TOttb  tbe  sincere  regards  of  Jf.  TO*  ffmtnam 


Ipeabo&'e  flDuseum,  1foarx>ar&  'Universitt 
dambriSge,  Abase.,  "Cl.  S.  B. 


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7'UZ^'< 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Anthropological  Essays 


PRESENTED  TO 

FREDERIC  WARD  PUTNAM 

IN  HONOR  OF  HIS  SEVENTIETH  BIRTHDAY,  APRIL  16,  1909 


BY 

HIS  FRIENDS  AND  ASSOCIATES 


NEW  YORK 

G.  E.  STECHERT  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS 
1909 


EDITORIAL  COMMITTEE 


Franz  Boas,  Chairman 
Roland  B.  Dixon  Alfred  L. 
F.  W.  Hodge  Harlan  I. 


Kroeber 

Smith 


THE  TORCH  PRES9 
CEDAR  RAPiDS  IOWA 


LIST  OF  SUBSCRIBERS 


Alexander  Agassiz,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  New  York 

Clarence  J.  Blake,  Boston 

Franz  Boas,  New  York 

Charles  P.  Bowditch,  Boston 

Charles  O.  Brewster,  New  York 

Theodore  Cooper,  New  York 

Stewart  Culin,  Brooklyn 

Roland  B.  Dixon,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Members  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  Field  Museum  of  Natural  His¬ 
tory,  Chicago 

A.  S.  Frissell,  New  York 

Robert  G.  Fuller,  Brookline,  Mass. 

Stansbury  Hagar,  New  York 
Henry  W.  Haynes,  Boston 
Augustus  Hemenway,  Boston 
Esther  Herrman,  New  York 
George  G.  Heye,  New  York 
F.  W.  Hodge,  Washington 
William  H.  Holmes,  Washington 

B.  Talbot  B.  Hyde,  New  York 
Mrs.  Morris  K.  Jesup,  New  York 
Le  Due  de  Loubat,  Paris,  France 
Francis  C.  Lowell,  Boston 
Charles  Peabody,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Miss  Elizabeth  D.  Putnam,  Davenport,  Iowa 
George  Haven  Putnam,  New  York 
Marshall  H.  Saville,  New  York 
Harlan  I.  Smith,  New  York 
John  B.  Stetson,  Jr.,  Ashbourne,  Pa. 

Alfred  M.  Tozzer,  Cambridge,  Mass, 

W.  R.  Warren,  New  York 
Edwin  W.  Winter,  Brooklyn 


CONTRIBUTIONS 


The  Archeology  of  California,  A.  L.  Kroeber  ....  i 

Ancient  Zuni  Pottery,  J.  Walter  Fewkes  .....  43 

Pottery  of  the  New  England  Indians,  Charles  C.  Willoughby  .  83 

The  Seip  Mound,  William  C.  Mills  ......  102 

The  Fish  in  Ancient  Peruvian  Art,  Charles  W.  Mead  .  .  126 

A  Study  of  Primitive  Culture  in  Ohio,  Warren  K.  Moorehead  .  137 

Cruciform  Structures  of  Mitla  and  Vicinity,  Marshall  H. 

Saville  ..  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  15 1 

Conventionalism  and  Realism  in  Maya  Art  at  Copan,  with 
Special  Reference  to  the  Treatment  of  the  Macaw, 

George  Byron  Gordon  .........  191 

The  Exploration  of  a  Burial  Room  in  Pueblo  Bonito,  New 

Mexico,  George  H.  Pepper  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  196 

Tribal  Structure:  A  Study  of  the  Omaha  and  Cognate  Tribes, 

Alice  G.  Fletcher  .........  253 

The  Dates  and  Numbers  of  Pages  24  and  46  to  50  of  the  Dres¬ 
den  Codex,  Charles  P.  Bow  ditch  ......  268 

Notes  on  Religious  Ceremonials  of  the  Navaho,  Alfred  Marston 

Tozzer  ...........  299 

Certain  Quests  and  Doles,  Charles  Peabody . 344 

A  Curious  Survival  in  Mexico  of  the  Use  of  the  Purpura 

Shell-fish  for  Dyeing,  Zelia  Nuttall  .....  368 

Gotal  —  A  Mescalero  Apache  Ceremony,  Pliny  Earle  Goddard  385 
The  Cayapa  Numeral  System,  S.  A.  Barrett  .....  395 

Stature  of  Indians  of  the  Southwest  and  of  Northern  Mex¬ 
ico,  Ales  Hrdlicka . 405 

Notes  on  the  Iroquois  Language,  Franz  Boas  ....  427 

Outlines  of  Wintun  Grammar,  Roland  B.  Dixon  .  .  .  461 

A  New  Siouan  Dialect,  John  R.  Swanton  .....  477 

Primitive  Industries  as  a  Normal  College  Course,  Harlan  I.  Smith  487 
A  Visit  to  the  German  Solomon  Islands,  George  A .  Dorsey  .  521 

The  Pillars  of  Hercules  and  Chaucer’s  “Trophee,”  G.  L.  Kit- 

tredge . 545 

Notes  on  the  Irish  Practice  of  Fasting  as  a  Means  of  Dis¬ 
traint,  F.  N.  Robinson  ........  567 

Dusares,  C.  H.  Toy  .........  584 

Bibliography  of  Frederic  Ward  Putnam,  Frances  H.  Mead  .  601 


My  dear  Professor  Putnam: 

This  day,  when  you  look  back  upon  a  life  full  of  love  and 
vigor,  of  devoted  labor  and  unselfish  endeavor,  affords  to  your 
many  friends  a  welcome  opportunity  to  give  voice  to  their  senti¬ 
ments  of  gratitude  and  love,  and  to  express  the  esteem  in  which 
they  hold  you.  By  creating  and  fostering  public  interest  in 
science,  by  organizing  the  work  of  societies  and  institutions,  and 
by  your  own  contributions  to  knowledge,  you  have  liberally  con¬ 
tributed  to  the  development  of  scientific  activity  in  our  country. 
Your  achievements  will  stand  as  a  lasting  memorial  of  your  own 
worth. 

It  has  been  the  wish  of  your  friends  to  bear  testimony  to 
the  power  and  gentle  charm  of  your  personality  that  have  made 
you  our  leader.  For  this  reason  we  have  assembled  in  these 
pages  contributions  to  science  written  by  those  who  have  been 
immediately  associated  with  you  in  work  of  research  or  instruc¬ 
tion,  by  those  who  are  carrying  on  investigations  instituted  by 
you,  and  by  friends  with  whom  you  have  shared  for  years  the 
pleasures  of  intimate  intercourse,  to  which  each  contributes  the 
results  of  his  best  thought.  Thus  the  book  that  is  presented  to 
you  by  the  wide  circle  of  your  friends  and  admirers  will  at  the 
same  time  be  an  acknowledgment  of  the  debt  of  gratitude  that 
your  associates  owe  you,  and  an  expression,  however  inadequate, 
of  the  living  force  that  you  have  been,  and  continue  to  be,  in  the 
advancement  of  anthropology  in  all  parts  of  our  country. 

May  many  years  of  health  and  strength  be  granted  you  to 
see  the  ripening  of  your  plans  and  the  achievements  of  your 
younger  friends,  whose  progress  has  always  been  a  chief  pleasure 
of  your  life! 

With  sincere  wishes, 

Faithfully  yours, 

FRANZ  BOAS, 

Chairman  Editorial  Committee 


New  York,  April  sixteenth ,  igog 


THE  ARCHAEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


BY 

A.  L.  Kroeber 

THE  archaeology  of  California  has  been  even  less  ade¬ 
quately  investigated  than  was  the  ethnology  until  a  few 
years  ago.  There  is  only  one  published  work  of  any 
size,  comprehensiveness,  or  weight,  the  only  one  representing 
more  than  a  sporadic,  local,  or  specialized  effort.  This  was 
issued  thirty  years  ago  as  the  seventh  volume  of  the  Wheeler 
Geographical  Survey ,  under  the  editorship  and  largely  from 
the  pen  of  F.  W.  Putnam.  It  is  gratifying  as  well  as  fitting 
that  the  present  sketch  of  what  has  since  become  known  in  litera¬ 
ture,  in  museums,  and  through  exploration,  of  the  archaeology 
of  California,  should  be  composed  on  the  occasion  of  an  anni¬ 
versary  volume  to  Professor  Putnam. 

The  archaeology  of  California,  as  of  many  other  regions, 
is  concerned  primarily  with  two  questions.  The  one  deals  with 
time  and  origins,  the  other  with  prehistory  and  culture.  One 
problem  is  to  determine  the  first  existence  of  man  in  a  given 
region,  and  to  fix  the  time  of  this  appearance  absolutely,  so  far 
as  such  a  term  may  be  used  in  a  geological  sense.  The  other 
problem  is  to  determine  the  various  forms  taken  by  civilization 
and  their  succession.  It  is  therefore  historical,  and  is  concerned 
with  the  factor  of  time  principally  in  its  relative  aspect. 


2 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  two  problems  are  equally  important,  and  when  more 
knowledge  shall  have  been  amassed  will  be  found  to  be  insep¬ 
arable,  as  has  been  the  case  in  the  prehistory  of  western  Europe. 
One,  however,  requires  geological  methods  for  its  satisfactory 
attack,  the  other  is  inseparable  from  ethnology.  Professor 
Putnam’s  earlier  archaeological  work  in  California  was  of  the 
second  phase.  In  recent  years  his  efforts  have  been  specially 
directed  to  a  solution  of  the  first  problem.  As  the  author’s 
training  fits  him  more  adequately  for  a  discussion  of  the  cultural 
aspects  of  archaeology,  the  geological  aspect  of  the  antiquity  of 
man  in  California  will  be  touched  upon  but  briefly  here  in  spite 
of  its  fundamental  importance. 

ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN 

The  question  of  the  antiquity  of  man  in  California,  which 
has  received  attention  in  other  than  scientific  spheres  since  the 
discovery  of  the  famous  Calaveras  skull  under  alleged  circum¬ 
stances  of  sensational  import,  has  been  approached  most  con¬ 
spicuously,  by  workers  under  the  direction  of  Professor  Putnam, 
along  three  lines.  The  quaternary  and  tertiary  gravels  of  Cali¬ 
fornia,  especially  those  that  are  gold-bearing,  have  been  searched 
for  indubitable  or  possible  human  remains,  and  examined  in  their 
geological  aspects.  Caves,  the  most  famous  of  which  are  those 
in  Shasta  county,  have  been  explored  with  a  similar  object,  par¬ 
ticularly  those  that  bore  abundant  animal  remains.  Finally, 
surface  deposits  of  unquestionably  human  origin  have  been 
examined  for  their  geological  relations.  Results  of  the  investi¬ 
gations  of  gravels  have  so  far  been  negative.  The  explorations 


THE  ARCHAEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


3 


of  caves  have  yielded  a  rich  quaternary  fauna  and  certain  ob¬ 
jects  which  have  the  appearance  of  being  of  human  manufacture. 
That  these  objects  were  positively  made  and  used  by  man  is' 
however,  not  yet  generally  admitted  by  those  whose  opinion  is 
most  authoritative,  and  the  question  must  be  regarded  as  still 
in  suspense.  The  shell  deposits  are  presumably  of  more  recent 
geological  age  than  the  gravels  or  caves,  but  their  investigation 
has  led  to  the  rather  unexpected  and  gratifying  determination 
that  their  beginnings  are  of  greater  antiquity  than  might  theoret¬ 
ically  be  presupposed  or  than  had  been  assumed.  Altogether  it 
may  be  said  that  the  problem  of  the  antiquity  of  man  in  Cali¬ 
fornia  still  awaits  its  answer.  The  work  is  incomplete,  the  re¬ 
sults  inconclusive  but  promising.  Personally  the  writer  is  of 
the  conviction  that  however  far  from  positive  the  results  so  far 
may  have  been,  time  will  demonstrate  by  indisputable  evidence 
Professor  Putnam’s  belief  that  man  lived  in  California  at  a  very 
remote  period. 

CULTURAL  ARCHAEOLOGY 

ii 

That  phase  of  archaeology  which  aims  to  unfold  culture, 
and  is  therefore  essentially  historical,  shows  in  California  one 
fundamental  feature  which  is  usual  in  the  archaeology  of  North 
America.  The  civilization  revealed  by  it  is  in  essentials  the 
same  as  that  found  in  the  same  region  by  the  more  recent  explorer 
and  settler.  The  material  dealt  with  by  archaeology  and  eth¬ 
nology  is  therefore  the  same,  and  the  two  branches  of  investiga¬ 
tion  move  closely  linked  toward  the  same  goal,  differing  only  in 
their  methods.  The  archaeologist’s  record  being  always  imper¬ 
fect,  particularly  in  the  case  of  unlettered  peoples,  his  findings 


4 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


will  be  incomplete  if  not  supplemented  by  ethnology.  The  eth¬ 
nologist  can  obtain  a  more  complete  picture;  but  it  is  only  mo¬ 
mentary,  a  cross-section  as  it  were;  and  if  he  wishes  to  give  to 
his  results  historical  reality,  introduce  the  element  of  time,  and 
consider  the  factor  of  development,  he  in  turn  is  dependent  upon 
the  archaeologist. 

This  dominant  characteristic  which  links  so  closely  in  most 
of  the  New  World  the  prehistoric  past  and  the  historic  present, 
finds  expression  in  California  in  the  fact  that  neither  archaeology 
nor  ethnology  has  yet  been  able  to  discover  either  the  presence 
or  the  absence  of  any  important  cultural  features  in  one  period 
that  are  not  respectively  present  or  absent  in  the  other.  Both 
the  archaeologist  and  the  ethnologist  find  California  without  a 
trace  of  native  architecture,  its  peoples  making  no  use  of  metals, 
of  axes  or  stone  chisels,  of  pottery  except  in  certain  restricted 
regions;  and  both  declare  these  peoples  to  have  practised  no 
agriculture  and  to  have  been  practically  devoid  of  desire  or 
attempt  to  represent  actual  objects  realistically  in  any  sphere  of 
art.  Even  the  geographical  limits  of  subordinate  types  of 
culture,  and  the  distribution  of  specialized  forms  of  implements, 
coincide  almost  absolutely  so  far  as  archaeology  and  ethnology 
have  been  able  to  determine.  None  of  the  peoples  of  the  state 
possess  any  traditions  of  migration  or  of  foreign  origin,  and  their 
numerous  distinct  languages  are  spoken  in  such  closely  adjacent 
or  even  compact  and  continuous  areas  as  to  negative  any  theories 
as  to  noteworthy  movements  of  population  for  a  long  time  past. 
In  the  same  way  archaeology  at  no  point  gives  any  evidence  of 
significant  changes  of  culture  which  might  be  regarded  as  an 
indication  of  similar  supposed  movements  of  people. 


THE  ARCHAEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


S 


Even  such  subsidiary  differences  as  appear  in  the  results 
of  archaeological  and  ethnological  investigation,  usually  in  the 
end  reflect  only  more  general  underlying  similarities.  If  there 
is  one  implement  which,  even  on  a  most  superficial  view,  charac¬ 
terizes  the  archaeology  of  California,  it  is  the  mortar.  There 
is  no  part  of  the  state  in  which  it  is  not  found,  and  found  usually 
in  the  greatest  abundance.  There  can  be  no  question  but  that 
the  mortar  was  formerly  maufactured  and  used  on  a  most  ex¬ 
tensive  scale.  The  living  Indians  of  southern  California  use 
mortars  of  the  same  type  as  those  found  in  the  ground  in  their 
territory.  In  the  remainder  of  California,  however,  mortars 
of  the  prehistoric  type  are  not  used  by  the  Indians,  and  their 
purpose  is  often  not  understood  by  them.  In  the  region  of  the 
Sierra  Nevada  the  present  day  mortar  consists  of  a  cavity  ham¬ 
mered  in  a  clean  exposure  of  granite  bedrock,  and  is  therefore 
immovable.  In  the  Coast  Range  region,  at  least  north  of  San 
Francisco,  the  substitute  for  the  prehistoric  mortar  is  invariably 
an  almost  flat  slab,  on  which  is  placed  a  hopper  or  rim  of  bas¬ 
ketry.  The  mortars  found  in  northern  and  central  California 
are  usually  regarded  by  the  Indians  as  made  by  an  ancient  mythic 
race  of  people  or  animals.  They  are  often  looked  upon  as  hav¬ 
ing  been  cooking-vessels,  and  their  unquestionable  purpose  is 
perhaps  most  frequently  not  even  suspected.  Nevertheless,  these 
differences  between  the  past  and  present  are  only  differences  in 
detail,  involving  nothing  more  than  a  passing  change  of  fashion 
in  manufacture  or  in  manipulation  of  the  same  process.  The 
most  important  food  of  the  California  Indians  is  the  acorn,  which 
is  pounded  and  ground  into  flour  on  the  basket-rimmed  slab  or 


6 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


in  a  bedrock  cavity  today,  as  it  was  centuries  ago  in  the  portable 
bowl-shaped  mortar  of  stone. 

The  close  association  of  the  aboriginal  past  and  present  of 
California  makes  archaeology  of  the  utmost  importance,  even  to 
him  whose  interest  may  be  more  narrowly  ethnological,  on  ac¬ 
count  of  the  extinction  or  civilization  of  the  Indians  of  certain 
parts  of  the  state  before  more  than  the  merest  fragments  of  in¬ 
formation  concerning  their  life  and  manners  had  been  recorded. 
This  is  particularly  true  of  the  coast  region  between  San  Fran¬ 
cisco  and  Los  Angeles,  and  it  is  fortunate  that  what  has  proved 
to  be  the  richest  archaeological  field  in  California  should  com¬ 
prise  the  southern  part  of  this  area.  The  ethnologist  who  wishes 
to  know  something  of  the  Indians  of  the  Santa  Barbara  region 
must  borrow  his  information  from  the  archaeologist;  and  of  how 
much  value  this  information  is  to  him  he  will  realize  only  when 
he  turns  to  the  northern  half  of  this  same  coast  stretch,  the  region 
from  San  Francisco  to  south  of  Monterey,  —  which  a  variety  of 
causes  have  rendered  comparatively  unfruitful  to  the  archaeol¬ 
ogist,  — and  recognizes  that  he  neither  knows  nor  probably  ever 
will  know  much  of  significance  concerning  the  Indians  here. 

SOUTHWESTERN  CULTURE 

The  Santa  Barbara  district  is  noteworthy,  not  only  for  its 
archaeological  richness  but  for  its  civilization.  In  many  ways, 
on  the  mechanical  and  material  side  of  life  at  least,  the  finds 
indicate  a  distinct  and  somewhat  unique  form  of  culture.  The 
territory  covered  by  this  was  restricted  and  essentially  maritime. 
It  comprised  the  six  larger  islands  of  the  Santa  Barbara  archi¬ 
pelago  that  were  permanently  inhabited,  and  the  immediate  coast 


THE  ARCHAEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


7 


of  the  adjacent  mainland  to  the  north.  Of  the  islands  those  in 
the  south  show  perhaps  the  highest  development  of  the  peculiar 
culture.  On  the  mainland  it  extended  essentially  only  along 
that  part  of  the  coast  fronting  the  northern  islands,  from  Point 
Concepcion  to  Ventura.  Beyond  Ventura  it  seems  diluted, 
though  occasional  discoveries  have  been  made  as  far  to  the  south¬ 
east  as  Redondo  and  San  Pedro.  Most  characteristic  of  the  dis¬ 
coveries  in  this  region  are  the  innumerable  beads,  pendants,  and 
ornaments,  most  frequently  of  shell  material  of  various  kinds,  but 
also  of  bone  and  stone.  Disk  beads,  globular  beads,  tubular 
beads,  narrow  curved  pendants,  wide  pendants,  hollow  circles*, 
and  more  elaborate  forms,  the  larger  pieces  frequently  covered 
with  an  inlay  of  shell  beads  set  in  asphaltum,  as  a  basis  for  which 
even  wood  has  been  found,  have  been  discovered  at  once  in  the 
greatest  variety  and  in  enormous  profusion  at  favorable  points. 
It  is  probable  that  there  has  taken  place  an  unusual  accumulation 
of  material  owing  to  the  crowding  on  small  islands  and  narrow 
coast  sites  of  a  considerable  population  for  many  successive  gen¬ 
erations,  and  owing  to  the  absence  of  any  practices,  such  as  cre¬ 
mation  of  the  dead,  which  would  tend  to  hasten  the  destruction 
of  objects  of  culture.  At  the  same  time  there  are  probably  more 
different  varieties  of  ornaments  and  ornamented  objects  found 
in  this  small  area  than  in  all  the  remainder  of  California,  so  that 
the  existence  of  an  unusually  strong  development  of  certain  arts 
must  be  attributed  to  this  local  culture.  While  the  ornamenta¬ 
tion,  whether  of  form,  of  inlay,  or  of  decorative  marking,  is  often 
rich,  it  is  always  simple  in  pattern  and  geometric  in  form. 

Next  in  conspicuousness  in  this  southwestern  region  are  ob¬ 
jects  made  of  steatite  or  soapstone,  and  other  soft  stone  materials, 


8 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


which  adapt  themselves  to  the  manufacture  rather  of  ornamental 
objects  than  of  practical  implements.  Steatite  bowls,  some  in¬ 
tended  for  daily  household  use  and  some  so  elaborately  finished 
as  to  make  it  almost  certain  that  their  purpose  was  religious,  are 
abundant  and  have  been  of  particular  interest  because  of  the 
discovery  of  the  site  at  which  steatite  was  obtained  and  many  of 
the  vessels  manufactured.  It  was  at  one  time  thought  that  all 
aboriginal  soapstone  vessels  found  in  southern  California  came 
from  the  famous  quarry  on  Santa  Catalina  island.  Soapstone 
is  now  known  to  have  been  quarried  elsewhere  also,  but  it  is 
certain  that  Santa  Catalina  was  an  important  center  of  manu¬ 
facture  and  distribution  for  objects  made  of  this  material. 

Besides  bowls  or  ollas,  and  flat  concave  baking-slabs,  several 
classes  of  objects  were  made  in  this  region  of  steatite  and  other 
soft  stones,  of  which  the  shapes  as  well  as  the  decorative  finish 
render  it  scarcely  conceivable  that  they  could  have  served  any 
practical  purpose,  and  which  are  therefore  regarded  as  having 
been  employed  in  a  religious  connection.  These  forms  include 
boat-shaped  vessels;  peculiar,  heavy,  wide-edged  hooks  with  a 
knobbed  handle;  cylindrical  rods  with  a  rounded  head,  not  very 
different  in  general  appearance  from  a  heavy  spike;  and  heavy 
stone  objects  which  may  be  described  as  scoop  or  spade  shaped. 
The  most  distinctive  pieces  of  this  group  of  objects  are  however 
representations  of  cetaceans  with  erect  dorsal  fin,  together  with 
a  few  figures  of  quadrupeds,  which  mark  almost  the  only  attempt 
at  realistic  carving  found  anywhere  in  California. 

Special  discussion  has  more  than  once  been  given  the  rings 
or  perforated  stones  which  have  been  found  in  great  numbers 
in  the  Santa  Barbara  region.  It  seems  clear  that  many  of  them 


THE  ARCHAEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


9 


were  used  and  probably  originally  intended  as  weights  for  dig¬ 
ging-sticks.  Their  use  in  the  widespread  game  of  hoop  and 
dart  has  also  been  alleged,  but  is  doubtful.  More  perishable 
materials,  which  would  make  a  hoop  that  was  at  once  more 
readily  constructed  and  more  serviceable  for  the  game,  are 
known  to  have  been  used,  though  the  employment  also  of  stone 
rings  is  not  impossible.  Many  specimens  show  wear  on  the 
outer  circumference,  which  proves  unquestionably  that  they  were 
at  some  time  used  for  hammering  or  beating,  though  such  em¬ 
ployment  may  have  been  entirely  secondary.  The  discovery, 
finally,  in  a  cave  and  in  association  with  objects  of  undoubtedly 
religious  function,  of  several  such  perforated  stones  mounted  on 
wooden  handles  of  insufficient  strength  and  unsuitable  shape  to 
permit  of  any  conceivable  practical  use,  renders  it  certain  that 
some  at  least  of  these  perforated  stones  were  made  use  of  in 
shamanistic  or  other  ceremonial  processes.  This  is  the  more 
evident  from  the  fact  that  many  of  these  stones  have  been  found 
showing  a  degree  of  evenness  and  fine  polish  which  is  hard  to 
imagine  to  have  been  bestowed  on  objects  intended  for  so  humble 
a  purpose  as  weighting  the  rough  stick  with  which  an  old  woman 
dug  roots.  The  use  of  perforated  stones  as  net-sinkers  and  as 
war-clubs  in  southern  California  is  negatived  by  all  the  evidence 
available. 

While  the  most  distinctive  characteristics  of  the  Santa  Bar¬ 
bara  civilization  as  it  is  known  to  us,  are  expressed  in  the  arti¬ 
facts  made  of  the  harder  organic  substances  and  of  ground  and 
polished  stone,  these  ancient  people  had  attained  an  unusual 
degree  of  proficiency  in  the  manufacture  of  flaked  and  chipped 
implements.  Obsidian  usually  lends  itself  much  more  readily 


10 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


than  flint  to  delicate  and  regular  chipping,  and  the  fine  work  of 
northern  and  central  California  is  almost  all  done  in  obsidian. 
The  Santa  Barbara  region  was  farther  from  a  supply  of  obsidian 
than  the  more  northern  parts  of  the  state,  and  obsidian  imple¬ 
ments  are  relatively  less  numerous  and  important  than  in  certain 
regions  to  the  north.  The  Santa  Barbara  people,  however,  fully 
made  up  for  this  comparative  natural  deficiency  by  developing 
to  the  highest  degree  attained  in  California  the  art  of  fine  and 
regular  working  of  flint.  Long  delicate  flakes  of  triangular 
cross-section  are  found,  as  well  as  arrowheads  and  other  pointed 
and  edged  implements.  The  arrowpoints,  while  fairly  large, 
show  a  fineness  which  is  equalled  only  by  those  made  of  obsidian 
in  northern  California,  and  surpassed  only  by  the  unusually  ex¬ 
quisite  implements  found  in  the  region  of  the  lower  Columbia. 
In  several  cases  flints  have  been  found  which  do  not  adequately 
answer  any  conceivable  purpose,  and  whose  outline  is  so  sugges¬ 
tive  of  animal  shapes  as  to  recall  similar  pieces  from  palaeolithic 
Egypt. 

NORTHWESTERN  CULTURE 

While  the  southwestern  or  Santa  Barbara  region  is  shown 
by  archaeology  to  have  possessed  until  recently  a  comparatively 
unique  form  of  aboriginal  civilization,  ethnology  has  revealed  a 
somewhat  analogous  distinctness  in  the  lives  of  the  Indians  of 
northwestern  California,  particularly  in  the  region  about  the 
lower  Klamath  river.  Very  little  is  known  of  the  archaeology 
of  northwestern  California,  though  there  are  two  brief  records 
of  explorations  on  the  adjacent  coast  of  southwestern  Oregon, 
which  in  historic  times  has  been  inhabited  by  people  of  virtually 
the  same  material  culture  as  is  found  in  northwestern  California. 


THE  ARCHAEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


ii 


The  country  is  heavily  forested  and  the  most  favorable  sites  for 
prehistoric  populations  are  for  the  most  part  still  occupied  by  the 
surviving  Indians.  A  good  many  objects  have  however  been 
brought  to  light  by  accident,  and  it  is  interesting  that  with  the 
exception  of  an  occasional  bowl-shaped  mortar  these  are  all 
identical  with  the  stone  implements  used  by  the  Indians  of  the 
region  in  historical  times.  There  is  no  mistaking  this  evidence, 
as  this  territory  is  characterized  by  several  unique  forms,  such 
as  a  slender  curved  adze-handle;  a  short,  broad-based  wedge- 
maul  with  knobbed  or  flanged  head;  a  pestle  tapering  gradually 
to  a  point,  with  a  flange  near  its  base;  and  a  perforated  stone, 
often  grooved  for  string  attachment,  used  as  a  net-sinker. 

The  fact  that  in  northwestern  California  native  life  retained 
its  old  forms  until  but  a  few  years  ago,  or  more  recently  than 
elsewhere  in  the  state,  has  forced  upon  our  knowledge,  as  it  were, 
several  facts  of  a  kind  which  elsewhere  have  probably  become 
obscured  through  less  favorable  circumstances,  and  which  illus¬ 
trate  once  more  the  close  and  inseparable  connection  which  ob¬ 
tains  and  should  be  observed  between  archaeology  and  ethnology. 
Through  all  of  California,  bone  awls  were  used  by  the  Indians. 
In  most  parts  they  have  been  found  among  prehistoric  remains 
and  we  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  exploration  will  discover 
them  where  they  have  not  yet  been  reported.  The  recent  Indians 
used  them  but  sparingly  for  sewing,  as  they  had  but  little  to  sew. 
Through  the  greater  part  of  the  state,  or  wherever  coiled  bas¬ 
ketry  was  made,  an  awl  was  however  the  indispensable  means 
for  the  manufacture  of  this.  In  aboriginal  times  bone  was  the 
only  material  that  would  serve  this  purpose,  and  even  today  it  is 
frequently  preferred  to  steel.  In  northwestern  California,  how- 


12 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


ever,  coiled  basketry  is  unknown,  nor  is  there  even  a  shadow  of 
any  evidence  that  it  ever  was  made.  All  basketry  is  in  twined 
weaves,  which  do  not  require  an  awl  for  their  manufacture.  The 
Indians  of  northwestern  California,  however,  use  a  pointed  bone 
implement,  which,  though  its  characteristic  shape  frequently 
varies  somewhat  from  that  of  the  awls  of  the  remainder  of  Cali¬ 
fornia,  is  on  its  face  and  essentially  an  awl.  Its  principal  func¬ 
tion,  however,  is  the  piercing,  slitting,  and  preparing  of  lamprey 
eels,  which  are  caught  in  enormous  quantities  and  dried.  If  the 
Indians  of  northwestern  California,  instead  of  preparing  their 
eels  and  twining  their  baskets  even  today,  had  become  extinct 
or  completely  civilized  several  generations  ago,  the  natural  as¬ 
sumption  of  the  archaeologist  exploring  their  village  sites  would 
have  been  that  their  bone  awls  served  the  purpose  of  making  the 
coiled  basketry  which  is  found  nearly  everywhere  else  in  the 
state,  but  which  they  did  not  make. 

Again,  the  knife-like  implements  of  chipped  stone  in  north¬ 
western  California  are  remarkable  for  combining  at  times  ex¬ 
treme  size  and  extreme  beauty  and  regularity  of  workmanship. 
Obsidian  blades  range  from  a  few  inches  to  three  feet  in  length. 
The  shortest  pieces  are  square-edged  at  one  end  for  hafting.  The 
longer  ones  are  rounded  or  pointed  at  both  ends.  These  imple¬ 
ments,  which  have  been  several  times  described  and  discussed, 
are  primarily  objects  of  value  and  precious  heirlooms,  used  on 
the  one  hand  in  the  most  important  transactions,  such  as  the 
payment  of  blood-money  and  the  marriage  purchase,  and  on  the 
other  hand  displayed  on  ceremonial  occasions.  They  are  never 
employed  for  any  practical  purpose.  The  knife  of  these  people, 
which  was  not  made  of  obsidian  but  of  flint,  was  not  more  than 


THE  ARCHEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


i3 


two  or  three  inches  in  length,  wide  and  leaf-shaped,  and  with  a 
flat  base  for  hafting.  Spearpoints  were  not  used.  The  lance 
was  unknown,  and  the  only  stabbing  implement  seems  to  have 
been  a  short-handled  wooden  dagger  with  a  rough  flint  point, 
employed  to  despatch  sea-lions.  With  all  the  capacity  of  these 
people  for  chipping  a  serviceable  knife  of  flint  and  extraordi¬ 
narily  beautiful  blades  of  obsidian,  they  possessed  no  implement 
for  scraping.  When  hides  were  to  be  dressed,  large  pebbles  or 
small  bowlders  in  the  river  were  split  until  one  broke  with  a 
satisfactory  edge.  All  this  has  become  clear  from  the  statements 
of  the  present  Indians.  Without  this  guide  it  is  scarcely  con¬ 
ceivable  that  the  archaeologist  would  have  solved  correctly  all 
the  peculiar  uses  of  the  several  forms  of  chipped  implements. 
The  obsidian  blades,  whose  purpose  is  purely  ceremonial  and 
monetary,  would  unquestionably  have  been  in  part  interpreted 
as  knives,  spearpoints,  and  scrapers. 

CENTRAL  CULTURE 

As  compared  with  the  Santa  Barbara  and  Northwestern 
regions,  all  other  parts  of  California  show  much  less  specializa¬ 
tion  archaeologically,  as  they  do  also  in  ethnology.  There  are 
fewer  unique  types,  and  less  elaborate  ones.  Archaeology  has 
however  disclosed  several  instances  of  the  occurrence  of  distinc¬ 
tive  Santa  Barbara  forms  in  central  California,  on  which  eth¬ 
nology,  perhaps  through  the  imperfection  of  its  record,  is  silent. 
In  the  vicinity  of  Tomales  bay  mortars  have  been  found  which 
in  shape  and  beveled  edge  recall  the  finer  pieces  of  southern 
California.  The  shellmounds  of  San  Francisco  bay  contain 
concave  beads  made  of  thin  univalve  shells,  typical  of  the  Santa 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


H 

Barbara  region,  whereas  in  historical  times  it  seems  likely  that 
thicker  flat  beads  may  have  constituted  the  normal  shell  currency 
of  the  bay  region  as  they  did  of  the  neighboring  districts.  Sim¬ 
ilarly  a  few  ornamental  pieces  showing  shell  and  asphalt  inset 
have  been  found  in  the  San  Francisco  bay  mounds  which  are 
precisely  of  such  a  character  that  their  origin  might  have  been 
Santa  Catalina  or  Santa  Rosa  island. 

A  conspicuous  and  abundant  central  California  form,  about 
which  discussion  has  been  held  to  much  the  same  degree  as  over 
the  perforated  stones  of  the  south,  is  the  plummet-shaped  sinker 
or  charmstone.  These  pieces  were  often  made  in  most  sym¬ 
metrical  shape,  well-rounded  taper,  and  high  finish.  Some  are 
perforated,  but  those  showing  the  characteristic  or  elongated 
pear-shape  in  its  purest  form,  are  not  perforated.  A  consider¬ 
able  proportion  of  the  unperforated  pieces  reveals  traces  of 
asphalt  at  the  upper  end,  and  a  number  still  show  marks  of  string 
which  was  here  wound  around  the  stone  and  cemented  to  it  by 
asphalt.  That  the  pieces  were  suspended  is  however  no  proof 
that  they  were  used  as  sinkers,  and  it  is  now  established  that  they 
were  used  by  the  recent  Indians  as  shamans’  amulets  for  rain¬ 
making  or  other  purposes,  were  often  regarded  as  animate  and 
self-moving,  and  at  least  in  central  California  were  particularly 
employed  as  charms  for  hunting  and  fishing  and  in  this  connec¬ 
tion  frequently  either  hung  over  bodies  of  water  or  dropped  into 
them.  That  all  specimens  of  this  construction  were  so  used  is 
not  certain,  but  that  any  of  them  were  used  for  other  purposes  is 
entirely  conjectural.  It  appears  likely  that  the  Indians  of  recent 
times  usually  found  and  did  not  manufacture  their  charmstones; 
whether  the  pieces  were  originally  made  as  amulets  or  for  an- 


THE  ARCHEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


i5 


other  purpose,  is  entirely  a  matter  of  speculation.  Charmstones 
are  less  common  in  southern  than  in  central  California,  just  as 
the  frequent  perforated  stone  of  the  south  occurs  only  sporadi¬ 
cally  in  the  central  part  of  the  state. 

A  few  pieces  of  the  type  of  charmstones  have  been  found 
which  show  some  approach  to  a  knob  or  projection  at  both  ends. 
Small  pieces,  usually  of  steatite,  somewhat  resembling  in  outline 
the  shorter  charmstones,  but  marked  with  several  transverse  en¬ 
circling  grooves,  are  occasionally  found  on  San  Francisco  bay 
and  in  the  south.  There  are  also  one  or  two  charmstone-like 
pieces  that  bear  so  close  a  resemblance  to  a  fish  that  it  can  scarce¬ 
ly  be  doubted  the  likeness  was  intentional. 

The  one  published  account  of  a  systematic  though  partial 
exploration  of  a  shell-heap  on  San  Francisco  bay,  upholds  the 
view  of  a  distinct  progression  and  development  of  civilization 
having  taken  place  during  the  growth  of  the  deposit.  An  inde¬ 
pendent  examination  of  the  material  on  which  this  opinion  is 
reared,  tends  to  negative  rather  than  to  confirm  it.  It  is  true 
that  finely  worked  objects,  and  certain  specialized  types  such  as 
charmstones,  occur  only  in  the  upper  and  more  recent  strata  of 
the  Emeryville  mound,  but  on  the  other  hand,  mortars,  pestles, 
sinkers,  and  bone  implements,  differing  in  no  wise  from  those  of 
more  recent  period,  are  found  in  the  very  lowest  layers.  While 
rough  stone  fragments  predominate  in  these  low  layers,  the  same 
processes  of  manufacture,  and  in  the  main  the  same  modes  of 
life,  as  indicated  by  such  implements  as  the  mortar,  were  fol¬ 
lowed  in  the  periods  represented  by  the  earliest  and  the  latest 
strata.  It  does  appear  that  there  was  some  gradual  elaboration 
and  refinement  of  technical  processes,  but  it  was  a  change  of 


i6 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


degree  only,  and  one  in  no  way  to  be  compared  even  for  a  mo¬ 
ment  with  a  transition  as  fundamental  as  that  from  palaeolithic 
to  neolithic.  For  that  matter,  no  trace  of  any  people  in  a  purely 
palaeolithic  stage  of  cultural  development  has  yet  been  found 
anywhere  in  California.  The  question  as  regards  the  shell- 
mounds  is  further  complicated  by  the  fact  that  an  examination 
of  one  or  two  heaps  cannot  be  regarded  as  sufficient  to  determine 
problems  of  development  of  civilization  in  a  region  where 
deposits  of  this  character  exist  by  hundreds.  Finally,  while  the 
age  of  the  beginnings  of  the  shell  deposits  has  proved  to  be 
greater  than  would  probably  have  been  assumed  without 
evidence,  it  is  yet  evidently  measured  at  the  outside  by  only 
a  few  thousands  of  years;  and  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
in  view  of  the  indubitable  antiquity  of  man  in  America,  histor¬ 
ically  if  not  geologically,  any  radical  change  could  be  expected 
in  such  a  time.  Particularly  where  the  recent  civilization  is 
still  so  simple  as  in  central  California,  it  is  difficult  to  believe 
that  a  few  thousand  years  would  comprise  a  notable  develop¬ 
ment;  not  because  of  any  assumption  that  conservatism  increases 
with  degree  of  primitiveness,  but  because  any  radically  simpler 
culture  than  the  recent  one  in  central  California  must  have  been 
so  extremely  rude  as  to  make  its  existence  a  short  time  ago  seem 
more  than  questionable  to  anyone  impressed  with  the  evident 
historical  antiquity  of  a  fairly  well  developed  civilization  else¬ 
where  in  America.  A  priori  ideas  as  to  the  rapidity  of  cultural 
development  seem  to  have  been  partly  responsible  for  the  view 
that  the  San  Francisco  mounds  show  noticeable  development 
of  culture,  whereas  it  is  precisely  on  a  priori  grounds  that  such 
change  seems  most  doubtful. 


THE  ARCHEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


i7 


Low  earth-mounds  in  the  lower  San  Joaquin  valley,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Stockton,  are  notable  for  the  fine  workmanship  and 
polish  of  the  bone  implements  found  in  them.  They  contain 
also  curved  obsidian  blades  of  unusual  form  and  extremely  regu¬ 
lar  chipping;  occasional  narrow,  high,  cylindrical  vessels  of 
steatite;  and  rude  unbaked  or  partly  baked  clay  balls,  some  of 
them  ornamentally  incised,  which  may  have  been  sling-balls,  but 
were  more  likely  used  for  heating  water  in  baskets  in  the  region 
where  stones  were  scarce  or  entirely  wanting.  These  forms  have 
not  been  discovered  in  other  localities,  except  that  curved  obsid¬ 
ian  blades  have  been  reported  in  Inyo  county. 

GROUND  STONE  IMPLEMENTS 

In  regard  to  the  ubiquitous  mortar,  it  should  be  observed 
that  while  the  usual  implement,  of  ordinary  size,  presumably 
served  the  purpose  of  milling  acorns  and  other  vegetable  foods, 
smaller  specimens  were  undoubtedly  also  used  for  other  pur¬ 
poses,  as  the  Indians  of  today,  even  in  regions  where  globular 
stone  mortars  are  not  now  used  for  acorns,  employ  smaller  ones 
of  this  type  for  crushing  bones  or  meat  of  small  game,  for  tobac¬ 
co  and  medicine,  and  for  paint.  It  is  also  likely,  judging  from 
analogy  with  the  present,  that  certain  mortars  were  used  cere¬ 
monially  only.  The  Maidu  of  the  northern  Sierra  Nevada  re¬ 
gard  them  as  abodes  and  receptacles  of  supernatural  pain-objects, 
and  the  Luiseno  and  Diegueno  of  the  extreme  south  of  the  state 
kept  certain  vessels,  which  were  not  to  be  distinguished  from 
mortars  except  perhaps  by  their  smaller  size,  solely  for  use  in 
the  toloache  or  jimsonweed-drinking  initiation  ceremony.  This 
ceremony  was  particularly  developed  in  southern  California,  in 


i8 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


which  region  also  are  found  nearly  all  the  large  well-made  mor¬ 
tars  with  bevelled  and  sometimes  shell-ornamented  edge,  and 
of  an  even  thinness  of  walls  and  great  smoothness  of  surface, 
so  that  it  may  be  concluded  that  these  pieces  were  not  so  much 
mortars  as  bowls,  used,  if  not  in  the  jimsonweed  rite,  at  least 
in  some  ceremony. 

In  the  central  Sierra  Nevada  region,  tall  cylindrical  mor¬ 
tars  are  at  times  found  which  are  about  twice  as  high  as  wide. 
Similar  forms  occur  also  in  northeastern  California.  In  the 
vicinity  of  Sonoma  county  one  form  is  conical,  as  if  it  had  been 
set  in  the  ground  when  used.  The  material  of  mortars  through¬ 
out  the  state  is  generally  granite  or  other  igneous  or  metamor- 
phic  rock;  but  in  the  Santa  Barbara  region  this  is  frequently 
replaced  by  fine  or  coarse  sandstone. 

The  pestle  is  naturally  cylindrical  and  of  varying  length 
and  diameter.  In  the  Sierra  Nevada,  and  at  times  in  the  shell- 
mound  region,  it  is  often  flattened  or  squarish  in  cross-section. 
Pestles  for  use  in  a  deep  funnel-shaped  mortar  are  pointed,  not 
rounded,  at  the  base,  and  are  found  in  parts  of  central  California, 
just  as  they  are  used  today  in  the  mesquite  mortars  of  the  Mohave 
and  Cahuilla  of  the  southern  desert.  Ornamented  pestles  usu¬ 
ally  occur  only  in  the  Santa  Barbara  and  Northwestern  regions. 
In  the  former  area,  such  pestles  are  decorated  with  one,  two,  or 
even  three  rings  at  the  top ;  in  the  latter,  with  a  ring  or  flange 
about  one-fourth  way  up  from  the  base.  These  rings  are  purely 
ornamental  and  serve  no  practical  purpose  of  manipulation.  In 
central  California  pestles  with  a  slightly  knobbed  top  are  occa¬ 
sionally  found.  Pestles  of  the  type  with  a  ring  or  knob  at  the 
top  have  sometimes  been  interpreted  as  phallic,  though  so  far 


THE  ARCHAEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


i9 


as  known  without  any  reason.  In  the  vicinity  of  Mendocino 
and  Lake  counties  the  most  typical  pestle,  ancient  and  recent,  is 
slender  with  a  suddenly  swelled  base.  Pestles  that  have  been 
pitted  or  otherwise  put  to  a  secondary  use,  are  not  rare. 

The  metate,  or  flat  milling  slab,  occurs  all  through  southern 
California,  as  through  the  adjacent  Southwest.  In  central  and 
northern  California  it  occurs  chiefly  in  the  interior,  being  found 
as  far  north  as  the  Maidu  of  the  northern  Sierra  Nevada  and  the 
Modoc  of  the  Oregon  boundary.  It  is  never  provided  with  legs 
as  in  Mexico,  and  usually  is  only  an  irregularly  oval,  slightly 
concave,  slab  of  sandstone.  Only  in  the  south,  as  among  the 
Mohave  of  today,  is  it  made  of  lava  with  a  flat  surface  and 
squared  edges. 

The  rubbing  or  hand  stone  of  the  metate  is  usually  rude, 
often  nothing  more  than  a  flattened  bowlder.  It  is  squared  only 
where  the  squared  metate  is  found.  The  only  specialized  form 
of  hand-stone  at  present  occurs  among  the  Modoc,  who  use  a 
peculiar  two-horned  form  of  purely  local  distribution.  This  is 
not  a  recently  introduced  type,  but  whether  it  is  of  archaeological 
antiquity  remains  to  be  ascertained. 

The  typical  sinker  of  California,  when  it  was  not  merely 
an  unshaped  stone,  consisted  of  a  pebble  slightly  grooved  trans¬ 
versely  or  only  notched  at  opposite  edges.  Such  pieces  are 
found  in  numbers  in  the  San  Francisco  bay  mounds.  In 
northwestern  California,  perforated  stones  are  fastened  to  nets 
and  probably  were  so  used  in  prehistoric  times.  The  majority 
of  these  are  not  perfectly  round,  as  they  would  be  if  made  for 
slipping  over  a  handle,  but  are  slightly  asymmetrical,  elongated, 
or  grooved  for  evident  suspension.  The  northwestern  people, 


20 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


however,  also  use  irregular  masses  of  unshaped  rock  that  possess 
natural  perforations;  and  in  graves  of  their  ancestors  they  find 
small  oval  sinkers  with  a  well-marked  transverse  groove.  It 
should  be  added  that  the  heaviest  sinkers  used  in  this  region,  as 
for  sturgeon  nets,  are  oval  stones  grooved  longitudinally.  The 
modern  Modoc,  in  extreme  northeastern  California,  use  triangu¬ 
lar  or  heart-shaped  sinkers  that  are  perforated  or  vertically 
grooved,  and  large  sinkers  with  an  encircling  transverse  groove. 
The  Santa  Barbara  region  has  produced  few  artifacts  that  can  be 
identified  as  sinkers.  There  are  some  grooved  or  notched  stones. 
Perforated  stones  are  abundant  but  cannot  be  regarded  as  having 
been  sinkers.  It  seems  likely  that  the  statement  of  one  of  the 
few  surviving  Indians  of  this  region  is  correct,  that  when  a 
sinker  was  wanted,  a  convenient  stone  was  usually  picked  up 
from  the  beach. 

Nothing  like  either  a  distinctive  hammer-stone  or  club  is 
known  to  the  archaeology  of  California,  nor  have  such  imple¬ 
ments  been  found  among  the  Indians.  Acorns  were  constantly 
cracked,  but  unworked  stones  answered  this  purpose  as  well  as 
a  finished  implement.  Other  requisites  of  a  hammer  could  have 
been  fulfilled  by  the  ever-present  pestle.  In  northwestern  Cal¬ 
ifornia  a  short  flaring  knobbed  maul  was  employed  solely  for 
driving  elk-horn  wedges.  In  other  parts  of  the  state  horn 
wedges  or  chisels  were  also  used,  as  their  presence  in  the  San 
Francisco  bay  mounds  testifies;  the  implement  that  drove  them 
has  not  been  identified,  if  indeed  it  existed  as  a  separate  form. 
The  restriction  of  the  maul  to  northwestern  California  is  no 
doubt  due  to  the  greater  development  there  of  working  in  wood. 
Stones  are  frequently  mentioned  as  used  by  the  California  In- 


THE  ARCHAEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


21 


dians  in  hand-to-hand  fighting,  but  they  were  stones  that  came 
to  hand,  not  clubs.  In  northwestern  California  there  is  some 
record  of  short,  sword-like  stone  war-clubs,  and  a  few  pieces 
have  been  found  which  seem  to  answer  this  description.  They 
are  of  the  general  type  of  the  slave-killers  and  one-piece  edged 
clubs  of  the  Pacific  coast  farther  north,  as  contrasted  with  the 
handled  hammer-headed  club  of  the  Plains  and  East. 

The  usual  recent  arrow-straightener  in  the  northern  half 
of  California  is  a  perforated  piece  of  wood.  Such  a  piece  has 
been  found  also  on  one  of  the  Santa  Barbara  islands.  The  two- 
piece  grooved  sandstone  arrow-polisher  also  occurs  in  the  north, 
among  the  Yurok  and  Maidu,  and  will  probably  prove  to  be 
of  some  antiquity.  In  the  southern  half  of  California  a  com¬ 
bined  straightener  and  polisher  is  found  which  has  southwestern 
affiliations.  It  is  usually  of  steatite  or  soft-grained  stone,  rec¬ 
tangular,  convex  above,  and  transversely  grooved.  This  form 
is  found  in  the  southern  San  Joaquin  valley  and  Sierra  Nevada, 
the  Santa  Barbara  region,  and  southern  California.  The  mod¬ 
ern  tribes  in  the  same  region  still  use  it,  and  the  Mohave  replace 
the  stone  implement  by  one  of  pottery. 

In  certain  parts  of  the  Sacramento  valley,  notably  Butte 
county,  oval  stones  encircled  by  a  lengthwise  groove  are  found 
in  numbers.  These  resemble  sinkers,  but  may  have  been  at¬ 
tached  to  strings  for  slinging  at  or  around  game,  thus  constitut¬ 
ing  bolas. 

A  few  rather  large  crescent-shaped  stones  have  been  discov¬ 
ered.  In  southernmost  California,  among  the  Diegueno,  these 
are  used  in  the  girls’  puberty  rite.  Single  pieces  have  been 


22 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


found  also  in  Los  Angeles,  Santa  Barbara,  Kern,  and  Alameda 
counties. 

The  pipe  of  California  is  tubular.  It  usually  tapers  even¬ 
ly  toward  the  mouth,  but  in  the  north  is  sometimes  concave,  in 
the  south  convex.  In  the  Santa  Barbara  region  it  is  often  pro¬ 
vided  with  an  inset  bone  mouthpiece.  In  the  southern  half  of 
the  state  it  occasionally  shows  a  shoulder  near  its  middle.  A 
tubular  pipe  of  red  catlinite  has  been  said  to  have  been  found  in 
southern  California,  which,  if  authenticable,  is  of  interest  as  an 
indication  of  trade  distribution.  Variations  from  the  straight 
tubular  form  of  pipe  occur  only  in  the  Santa  Barbara  region  and 
in  the  extreme  northeast.  The  southern  variant  is  obtuse-angled, 
the  bowl  end  of  the  pipe  rising  from  the  axis  of  the  mouth  end 
at  an  angle  of  from  twenty  to  fifty  degrees,  the  bend  coming  at 
the  middle  of  the  length.  In  northeastern  California,  among 
the  Modoc,  a  flat  circular  pipe-bowl,  in  which  a  short  wooden 
stem  is  inserted,  is  found.  It  seems,  but  remains  to  be  deter¬ 
mined,  that  this  is  an  ancient  as  well  as  a  modern  form.  The 
material  of  the  pipe,  whose  boring  was  unquestionably  one  of  the 
most  difficult  technical  achievements  of  the  old  Californians,  is 
naturally  most  generally  a  stone  that  is  fine-grained  and  sus¬ 
ceptible  to  polish.  Steatite,  serpentine,  and  slaty  stones  pre¬ 
dominate,  but  in  the  Santa  Barbara  region  a  characteristic  rough 
reddish  stone  is  not  infrequent.  Decoration  on  pipes  is  ex¬ 
tremely  rare.  It  is  interesting  that  while  the  pipe  among  the 
Indians  of  recent  generations  in  many  parts  of  California  has 
been  of  wood  only,  ancient  stone  pipes  are  found  in  every  por¬ 
tion  of  the  state,  and  certain  modern  Indian  languages  corrob¬ 
orate  this  by  calling  the  wooden  pipe  “tobacco-stone.”  The 


THE  ARCHAEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


23 


stone  pipe  is  often  excessively  short,  as  in  the  shellmound  region, 
but  this  is  not  surprising  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  typical  recent 
wooden  pipe  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  is  only  two  or  three  inches 
long.  Almost  everywhere  the  pipe  is  also  a  shaman’s  imple¬ 
ment,  especially  for  sucking;  and  it  seems  likely  that  this  was 
the  case  in  ancient  times  as  well. 

The  distribution  of  stone  vessels  or  dishes  is  rather  closely 
dependent  on  the  occurrence  of  steatite.  The  famous  aboriginal 
quarries  and  work-sites  on  Santa  Catalina  island  were  undoubt¬ 
edly  the  source  of  much  of  the  steatite  manufacture  of  southern 
California;  but  steatite  is  said  to  occur  also  near  the  Santa  Maria 
river.  Statements  of  Indians  and  the  occurrence  of  vessels  make 
it  probable  that  there  existed  ledges  not  far  from  Fresno  county, 
and  the  occurrence  of  vessels  in  and  near  Plumas  county  co¬ 
incides  with  a  local  source  near  Quincy.  In  northwestern  Cali¬ 
fornia  steatite  is  found  on  the  coast  of  northern  Humboldt  coun¬ 
ty,  and  perhaps  elsewhere.  It  is  said  to  occur  in  Yuba  and 
Sonoma  counties.  The  typical  Santa  Barbara  vessel  was  nearly 
spherical,  with  mouth  smaller  than  diameter,  thin-walled,  well- 
made,  sometimes  ornamented  with  striations,  and  at  times  large¬ 
sized.  At  least  sometimes  it  was  used  for  cooking,  and  when 
broken  its  concave  fragments  were  used  as  baking-slabs.  The 
northwestern  vessel  was  elliptical,  low,  and  often  irregular.  The 
modern  Indians  make  and  use  vessels  of  this  type  principally  for 
collecting  dripping  salmon-fat,  and  depend  entirely  on  baskets 
for  cooking.  It  is  also  characteristic  that  the  northwestern 
Indians  make  and  made  almost  no  use  of  steatite  other  than  for 
dishes  and  pipes,  whereas  the  southwestern  people  manufactured 


24 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


from  it  also  arrow-straighteners,  beads,  and  such  ornamental  or 
ceremonial  objects  as  the  hooks  and  whale-carvings  that  have 
been  mentioned.  In  the  San  Francisco  mounds  and  elsewhere 
in  central  California,  charmstones,  pipes,  and  other  small  objects 
are  found  made  of  steatite,  but  no  vessels.  Steatite  here  was 
probably  brought  from  a  distance  in  small  pieces. 

Labrets  are  not  known  to  the  present  California  Indians, 
but  they  employed  ear-plugs,  usually  of  wood  ornamented  with 
feathers  or  shell.  The  Santa  Barbara  remains  contain  nothing 
that  could  be  positively  determined  as  ear-plugs,  but  several 
soft  stone  specimens  have  been  found  in  the  San  Francisco  shell- 
mounds  and  elsewhere  in  central  California.  A  large,  beauti¬ 
fully  rounded,  and  highly  polished  piece  of  obsidian  of  ear-plug 
shape  from  Sonoma  county,  is  remarkable  not  only  for  being 
perhaps  the  largest  specimen  of  this  form  yet  found  in  California, 
but  for  being  one  of  the  very  few  instances  of  ground  and  pol¬ 
ished  obsidian.  A  specimen  from  Tuolumne  county,  of  soft 
stone,  is  slightly  smaller. 

Quartz  crystals,  probably  shamanistic  in  import,  are  found 
in  both  the  San  Francisco  and  Santa  Barbara  regions.  One 
from  the  Emeryville  mound  is  painted  red  and  ornamented  with 
shell  beads  set  in  asphalt;  several  from  Santa  Rosa  island  were 
hafted  in  long  bone  handles.  The  modern  Luiseno  Indians  of 
southern  California  use  quartz  crystals  ceremonially,  and  it 
seems  that  they  are  employed  by  shamans  elsewhere  in  the  state. 

Mica  is  rarely  found,  but  there  are  specimens  from  the  San 
Francisco  mounds.  It  is  perforated  and  cut,  but  not  into  elab¬ 
orate  shapes. 


THE  ARCHAEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


25 


CHIPPED  STONE  IMPLEMENTS 

Implements  of  chipped  stone  are  characterized  and  condi¬ 
tioned  by  the  occurrence  of  obsidian,  whose  nature  causes  it  to 
be  preferred  to  flint,  at  least  for  most  purposes,  wherever  it  is 
obtainable.  Obsidian  is  known  to  occur  in  at  least  three  parts 
of  California,  and  it  is  clear  that  for  a  long  time  back  no  section 
of  the  state  has  been  without  at  least  a  moderate  supply  of  the 
material  or  of  objects  made  from  it.  One  field  is  in  northern 
California,  in  Shasta  county  or  northward.  This  is  evidently  a 
southward  extension  of  the  important  Oregon  field.  From  this 
source  comes  the  obsidian  from  which  the  extremely  large  blades 
of  the  lower  Klamath  river  were  manufactured.  The  modern 
Indians  know  that  their  obsidian  was  brought  down  the  Klamath. 
A  second  field  is  in  Lake  and  Napa  counties.  While  no  ledges 
are  known  here,  fragments  of  obsidian  occur  in  abundance.  A 
third  field  is  in  Mono  county.  The  material  from  this  source 
is  stated  by  the  Indians  to  have  been  carried  across  the  Sierra 
Nevada.  Table  Mountain  near  Oroville,  in  the  Sacramento 
valley,  is  mentioned  by  one  authority  as  a  source  of  obsidian, 
by  another  of  flint. 

Generally  speaking,  the  presence  of  obsidian  undoubtedly 
contributed  to  the  art  of  chipping.  Some  of  the  finest  flaking 
ever  successfully  carried  out  anywhere,  and  some  of  the  largest 
perfect  artifacts  of  obsidian,  are  found  in  southwestern  and  north¬ 
western  California.  The  Santa  Barbara  blades  are  smaller  than 
those  of  the  lower  Klamath,  but  both  are  larger  and  on  the  whole 
considerably  finer  than  those  found  in  other  parts  of  California. 
In  central  California  the  larger  blades  are  often  quite  roughly 
made.  The  coast  region  north  of  San  Francisco  bay,  to  which 


26 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


the  Lake  and  Napa  field  supplied  an  abundant  source  of  mate¬ 
rial,  possesses  a  particular  abundance  of  arrowpoints  and  smaller 
blades  of  obsidian,  which  in  some  districts  are  usually  serrated. 
The  peculiar  curved  obsidian  blades  of  the  vicinity  of  Stockton 
have  been  mentioned.  With  one  or  two  exceptions  there  are 
no  known  instances  of  ground  or  polished  obsidian. 

The  most  delicate  flint  chipping  is  found  in  the  Santa  Bar¬ 
bara  region,  whether  on  account  of  the  advantage  of  superior 
material  or  from  a  general  higher  development  of  industrial  arts, 
is  not  yet  certain.  The  Santa  Barbara  arrowpoints  are,  how¬ 
ever,  on  the  whole  neither  so  small  nor  so  thin  as  the  smaller 
specimens  found  in  northern  and  central  California,  some  of 
which  rival  the  celebrated  ones  of  the  Columbia  river.  In 
northern  California  and  in  parts  of  central  California  the  arrow- 
point  usually  bears  two  well-marked  notches  just  above  its  base, 
which  serve  to  tie  it  to  the  arrow.  This  feature  is,  however,  at 
least  in  part,  dependent  upon  the  size  of  the  implement,  being 
almost  always  present  in  small  pieces  and  rare  in  larger  ones. 
Many  of  the  latter  which  are  customarily  classed  as  arrowpoints 
may  in  reality  not  have  been  such,  thus  accounting  for  the 
difference. 

We  know  something  positive  of  the  aboriginal  flint  knife  of 
California  through  finds  of  hafted  implements  made  in  graves 
in  the  Santa  Barbara  region,  and  through  similar  pieces  found 
in  the  possession  of  the  modern  Indians  of  the  northwest.  The 
former  are  triangular,  with  the  entire  base  set  in  a  wooden 
handle;  the  latter  leaf-shaped.  In  both  cases  it  is  clear  that  the 
finest  material  for  chipping  was  not  used,  and  the  work  is  char¬ 
acterized  by  a  roughness  and  irregularity  which  contrasts  de- 


THE  ARCHAEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


27 


cidedly  with  the  best  work  done  in  both  regions.  Very  little  is 
known  of  the  typical  scraper  of  California,  and  there  are  but  few 
implements  that  may  with  any  certainty  be  identified  as  having 
been  intended  primarily  as  such  implements.  The  preparation 
of  skins  was  less  important  to  the  California  Indians  than  to 
most  others.  There  is  as  yet  no  evidence  of  the  existence  of 
scraper-shaped  knives,  blades  with  a  handle  opposite  and  paral¬ 
lel  to  the  edge. 

Flint  picks  and  drills  have  been  found  in  abundance  on  the 
Santa  Barbara  islands.  They  vary  greatly  in  size  and  weight. 
Most  of  the  specimens  collected  seem  to  have  been  used  as  picks 
rather  than  as  drills.  Very  thin  slender  pointed  flakes  of  tri¬ 
angular  cross-section  are  found  in  the  Santa  Barbara  region, 
usually  in  considerable  numbers  in  one  burial.  These  would 
unquestionably  have  been  serviceable  as  drills  or  scratchers,  but 
their  actual  use  is  still  undetermined,  though  it  is  asserted  on 
Indian  authority  that  they  were  shamans’  scarificators. 

BONE  IMPLEMENTS 

The  most  abundant  implement  of  bone  is  the  awl,  which 
while  capable  of  a  variety  of  uses,  and  undoubtedly  thus  em¬ 
ployed,  was  indispensable  in  the  making  of  coiled  basketry. 
Bone  needles  are  much  less  common,  though  they  are  hardly 
rare.  They  are  of  such  a  thickness  that  they  must  have  been  less 
serviceable  for  such  sewing  of  skins  as  was  done,  than  the  sharp 
pointed  awl.  They  were  probably  used  more  largely  in  textile 
processes,  such  as  the  sewing  together  of  bulrushes  into  mats. 

Barbed  arrowpoints  of  bone  are  uncommon  and  known 
chiefly  from  the  Stockton  earth-mounds. 


28 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Bone  whistles  of  various  sizes  are  found  in  all  parts  of  the 
state,  just  as  they  appear  to  have  been  used  nearly  everywhere 
by  the  recent  Indians.  Whistles  of  bird  bone  are  most  frequent, 
but  larger  bones  occur  occasionally.  The  stop  in  whistles  is 
usually  produced  by  a  flat  incision  not  far  from  the  middle  of 
the  bone  tube,  asphalt,  pitch,  or  gum  being  built  up  in  the 
opening  thus  produced. 

In  the  Santa  Barbara  region  bone  was  considerably  used 
for  ornamental  purposes.  There  are  flat  bone  pendants  and 
disks,  and  bone  beads  and  tubes,  some  of  the  latter  with  shell 
and  asphalt  inlay.  Rude  tubular  beads  of  bird  bone  have  been 
found  in  one  of  the  San  Francisco  bay  mounds.  In  the  south, 
flat  spatula-shaped  and  flat  pointed  implements  of  bone  occur. 
The  purpose  of  these  and  of  allied  forms,  including  long  slen¬ 
der  rods  lacking  a  sharp  point,  and  large  flat  pieces  of  whale’s 
bone,  is  uncertain.  In  the  San  Francisco  shellmounds  a  char¬ 
acteristic  implement  which  has  not  been  discovered  elsewhere 
consists  of  the  thick  portion  of  the  shoulder-blade,  usually  of  a 
deer,  of  which  one  side  has  been  notched  so  as  to  present  a  saw¬ 
like  edge.  This  edge  is  thin  and  fragile  and  no  satisfactory 
explanation  has  yet  been  given  of  a  use  to  which  it  could  have 
been  put. 

HORN  IMPLEMENTS 

Horn  appears  to  have  been  of  much  less  importance  than 
either  bone  or  shell.  Numerous  points  of  deer  antlers  are  found 
in  the  mounds  of  the  San  Francisco  and  Stockton  regions.  Their 
use  is  entirely  unknown.  The  San  Francisco  mounds  con¬ 
tain  also  wedges  of  deer  and  elkhorn.  That  these  pieces  were 
actually  used  as  wedges  is  made  practically  certain  by  the  occur- 


THE  ARCHEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


29 


rence  of  identical  pieces  among  the  modern  Indians  of  north¬ 
western  California.  While  perhaps  also  used  as  chisels  by  these 
Indians,  their  principal  function  is  the  splitting  of  wood.  Re¬ 
sides  wedges,  the  northwestern  Indians  make  money-boxes, 
spoons,  netting  shuttles,  and  net  mesh-measures  of  elk  antler. 
Systematic  exploration  of  the  archaeology  of  their  habitat  may 
reveal  that  these  forms  were  made  also  in  antiquity.  They  can 
hardly  be  expected  to  show  a  wider  distribution,  as  their  man¬ 
ufacture  in  recent  times  was  limited  to  this  one  corner  of  the 
state. 

SHELL  OBJECTS 

Implements  of  shell  are  hardly  encountered  in  California 
archaeology,  shell  objects  belonging  either  to  the  category  of 
beads  or  to  that  of  ornaments.  There  are  several  types  of  beads, 
the  principal  of  which  are  each  mainly  confined  to  one  region. 

In  northwestern  California  manufactured  beads  are  almost 
entirely  absent,  and  the  standard  shell  currency  has  consisted, 
as  farther  north  on  the  Pacific  coast,  of  dentalia,  to  the  longest 
specimens  of  which  extraordinary  value  was  attached.  This  was 
the  case,  however,  only  in  the  region  immediately  about  the 
lower  Klamath.  While  dentalia  were  known  in  the  districts 
to  the  south  and  east,  they  were  much  less  esteemed,  and  conse¬ 
quently,  it  seems,  less  frequently  imported.  The  dentalia  of 
northwestern  California  all  came  from  the  north,  the  northern 
species  of  Pacific  coast  dentalium  not  growing  south  of  the 
Puget  Sound  region  and  the  southern  form  no  farther  north 
than  southernmost  California.  The  northwestern  Indians  usu¬ 
ally  ornamented  their  dentalia  with  a  wrapping  or  covering  of 
snakeskin.  They  also  occasionally  incised  them  with  geometric 


30 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


ornaments.  When  the  archaeology  of  the  region  is  more  fully 
known,  it  will  be  of  interest  to  learn  whether  the  use  of  dentalia 
characterized  northwestern  California  in  antiquity  as  at  present, 
or  whether  the  introduction  of  this  form  of  currency  from  the 
north  was  of  comparative  historical  recency.  The  southern  Cal¬ 
ifornia  species  of  dentalium  was  sparingly  used  in  the  Santa 
Barbara  region,  chiefly  as  a  bushing  in  the  perforation  through 
tubular  beads. 

The  standard  currency  of  the  greater  part  of  central  Cali¬ 
fornia  consists  of  strings  of  disk  beads  of  about  the  size  of  a  small 
coin,  but  several  times  thicker.  These  disk  beads  are  always 
white  and  are  all  made  from  a  species  of  clam  of  the  genus 
Saxidomus ,  which,  in  recent  times  at  least,  is  gathered  only  in 
the  vicinity  of  Bodega  bay.  The  territory  about  this  bay  is  in 
the  possession  of  the  coast  division  of  the  Indians  of  Miwok  or 
Moquelumnan  family,  but  the  neighboring  Porno  have  been  wont 
to  make  frequent  trips  to  this  point  for  the  purpose  of  collecting 
this  material  so  valuable  to  them.  The  Porno  and,  before  their 
practical  extinction,  the  coast  Miwok,  seem  to  have  been  the 
distributors  of  the  beads,  and  in  some  cases  perhaps  of  the  un¬ 
worked  shells,  to  the  tribes  of  the  Sacramento  valley  to  the  east. 
From  there  the  currency  reached  the  Indians  to  the  north  and 
south.  Beads  of  this  type  are  usually  well  rounded  and  some¬ 
times  highly  polished  at  the  edges.  While  they  were  made  in 
varying  sizes  and  their  value  seems  to  have  depended  rather 
upon  their  thickness  than  their  diameter,  the  beads  on  one  string 
were  uniform  in  size.  Archaeological  discoveries  disclose  this 
type  of  bead  to  have  been  used  in  former  times  over  the  same 
territory  as  more  recently. 


THE  ARCHAEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


3i 


A  third  form  of  bead  currency  is  southern.  It  consists  also 
of  perforated  disks,  which  were  strung  and  measured.  It  dif¬ 
fers  from  the  central  Californian  type  in  that  the  disks  are  thin 
and  concave,  being  made  of  a  small  univalve  shell,  Olivella 
biplicata ,  instead  of  from  the  thick  clam.  While  often  well 
rounded,  these  curved  beads  are  at  other  times  irregular  in  out¬ 
line,  and  sometimes  but  little  attempt  seems  to  have  been  made  to 
grind  them  to  a  circular  form  from  the  irregular  polygons  in 
which  they  were  first  cut  out.  Beads  of  this  kind  are  exceed¬ 
ingly  abundant  in  the  Santa  Barbara  region.  They  are  also  found 
on  the  mainland  of  southern  California.  They  are  characteristic 
also  of  the  shellmounds  of  San  Francisco  bay,  though  these  are 
usually  poor  in  beads  of  any  kind.  Whether  their  occurrence 
in  the  San  Francisco  bay  mounds  indicates  a  change  from  ancient 
to  recent  times  is  not  certain,  as  has  been  indicated  above,  be¬ 
cause  it  is  not  positively  established  whether  the  Indians  of  San 
Francisco  bay  at  the  time  of  discovery  used  the  thick  flat  beads 
employed  by  their  neighbors  in  central  California  or  were  at 
that  time  still  using  the  thin  concave  bead  typical  of  the  south. 
A  few  square  beads  have  been  discovered  in  the  San  Francisco 
and  Stockton  regions.  A  large  clam,  Pachydesma  or  Tivela , 
was  used  for  ornaments  and  flat  beads  in  the  Santa  Barbara 
region,  but  did  not  enter  into  competition  with  the  curved  oli¬ 
vella  bead  as  a  standard  form  of  currency  measured  on  strings. 

A  fourth  type  of  bead,  characteristic  of  the  south,  is  the 
long  tube,  usually  made  of  the  columella  of  Siphonalia  or  large 
univalves.  This  is  frequent  in  the  Santa  Barbara  region.  The 
recent  Indians  of  the  San  Joaquin  valley  prize  these  and  similar 


32 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


beads  highly  and  they  may  therefore  have  been  of  considerable 
value  also  in  the  region  of  their  manufacture. 

Beads  consisting  of  entire  olivella  or  other  small  univalve 
shells,  with  merely  a  perforation  for  stringing,  were  used  in  all 
parts  of  California,  but  they  were  regarded  as  of  but  slight  value 
and  comparatively  little  esteemed  for  decorative  purposes. 

In  the  Santa  Barbara  region  beads  of  other  material  than 
shell  are  also  abundant.  There  are  spherical,  cylindrical,  and 
tubular  beads,  large  and  small,  of  steatite,  of  colored  and  trans¬ 
lucent  stone,  and  of  bone,  some  rudely  made,  but  others  well 
formed,  highly  polished,  and  decorated.  These  do  not  seem  to 
have  experienced  any  considerable  distribution  to  other  parts  of 
the  state.  In  central  California  one  type  of  bead  of  other  mate¬ 
rial  than  shell  was  made.  This  was  occasionally  disk-shaped 
or  spherical,  but  usually  cylindrical,  and  sometimes  of  consider¬ 
able  size.  It  was  made  of  whitish  magnesite,  which  on  baking 
assumes  beautifully  mottled  shades  of  white,  orange,  and  terra¬ 
cotta  red.  So  far  as  known  the  source  of  supply  of  this 
material  is  on  Cache  creek  near  Clear  lake,  where  the  modern 
Indians  still  collect  and  manufacture  it.  The  making  of  these 
cylindrical  beads  was  therefore  in  the  hands  of  approximately 
the  same  people  as  those  that  manufactured  the  thick  disk  cur¬ 
rency,  and  both  its  ancient  and  modern  distribution  seems  to 
have  coincided  closely  with  that  of  this  type  of  shell  bead. 

Haliotis  or  abalone  occurs  on  the  entire  California  coast, 
as  far  north  as  about  Cape  Mendocino.  It  is,  however,  more 
abundant  in  the  south  than  in  the  north.  Its  qualities  are  such 
that  its  use  by  all  primitive  people  who  can  obtain  it  is  obvious. 
It  is  most  employed  and  most  elaborately  worked  in  the  Santa 


THE  ARCHAEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


33 


Barbara  region,  where  pendants  of  many  shapes,  both  large  and 
small,  were  made  from  it.  A  frequent  form  is  a  hollow  circle 
with  a  projection  at  one  end  for  a  perforation.  Characteristic 
curved  hooks  of  haliotis  are  also  abundant.  These  have  been 
interpreted  both  as  fishhooks  and  as  ornaments.  There  were 
no  currency  or  any  regularly  shaped  beads  of  haliotis. 
Large  curved  strips  or  fragments  from  the  lip  of  the  shell,  some¬ 
times  incised  but  often  unornamented,  were  much  used  as  pen¬ 
dants.  These  forms,  whose  shape  and  curvature  are  given  by  the 
shell,  are  perhaps  the  most  frequent  type  of  haliotis  pendant  or 
ornament  in  the  San  Francisco  bay  shellmounds.  Other  forms 
are  oval  or  irregular.  The  frequency  of  irregular  or  indeter¬ 
minate  shapes  of  haliotis  ornaments  is  noteworthy.  The  recent 
Porno  Indians  have  used  haliotis  as  pendants  on  basketry  and 
ceremonial  regalia.  The  northwestern  Indians  employ  it  chiefly 
as  attachments  on  women’s  dresses  and  ear  ornaments. 

The  species  of  shells  composing  the  refuse  deposits  in  dif¬ 
ferent  parts  of  the  state  have  not  been  determined  in  their 
relative  importance.  The  mussel  seems  to  have  furnished  the 
bulk  of  the  food,  and  the  greater  volume  of  the  mounds,  on  San 
Francisco  bay.  The  same  seems  to  be  true  to  an  even  greater 
degree  of  the  less  striking  but  unexplored  deposits  of  the  coast  to 
the  north,  and  perhaps  for  some  distance  to  the  south.  The  pro¬ 
portionate  frequency  of  various  species  in  the  deposits  and  re¬ 
mains  of  the  Santa  Barbara  region  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
reported. 

IMPLEMENTS  OF  WOOD  AND  FIBER 

Implements  of  wood,  textiles  of  fibers,  and  ornaments  of 
feathers  or  hair  have  occasionally  been  well  preserved,  but  do 


34 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


not  possess  the  relative  significance  for  the  archaeology  of  Cali¬ 
fornia  that  their  intrinsic  importance  might  warrant.  One  rea¬ 
son  for  this  circumstance  is  the  fact  that  all  such  remains  that 
have  been  discovered  resemble  closely  corresponding  implements 
used  in  recent  times.  While  such  a  correspondence  of  archae¬ 
ological  and  ethnological  data  is  of  interest  even  though  the  lapse 
of  time  involved  may  not  be  greater  than  a  few  centuries,  it  is 
not  of  the  same  significance  as  a  noteworthy  difference  between 
the  two  classes  of  records  would  be.  Nor  can  the  archaeological 
data  be  looked  upon  as  quite  as  valuable  as  if  ethnological  in¬ 
formation  were  entirely  wanting.  So  far  as  implements  of  wood 
are  concerned,  the  evidence  of  archaeology  is  particularly  incom¬ 
plete,  because  in  the  regions  where  wood  underwent  the  greatest 
number  of  processes  of  manufacture,  it  has  been,  on  account  of 
a  humid  climate,  least  preserved.  It  is  in  the  comparatively 
arid  south,  where  culture  depended  less  on  wood  than  on  other 
materials,  that  the  principal  remains  occur.  The  most  important 
of  these  are  a  few  wooden  bowls  and  ceremonial  sword-shaped 
objects.  Some  of  the  latter  are  inlaid.  Considerable  fragments 
of  basketry,  both  coiled  and  twined,  are  preserved  in  the  Santa 
Barbara  region  through  having  been  coated  with  asphalt.  Even 
where  the  textile  fiber  itself  has  decayed,  its  impression  may 
remain  intact.  A  number  of  complete  objects  of  basketry,  to¬ 
gether  with  feather-work  and  objects  of  religious  use,  have  been 
found  in  the  caves  of  the  south.  A  spear-thrower,  of  which  a 
single  specimen  attributed  to  the  Santa  Barbara  region  is  the 
sole  representative  from  California,  is  made  more  doubtful  than 
even  its  uncorroborated  ethnological  status  leaves  it,  by  the  entire 


THE  ARCHAEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


35 

failure  of  archaeology  to  discover  an  implement  that  could  be 
so  interpreted. 

POTTERY 

It  has  often  been  believed  and  sometimes  asserted  that  the 
native  civilization  of  California  is  and  was  without  pottery.  It  is 
now  well  established  that  in  recent  times  two  types  of  pottery 
were  made  and  used  in  two  parts  of  the  state,  and  while  a  high 
antiquity  for  these  two  industries  cannot  yet  be  asserted,  there 
is  every  indication  that  they  may  have  flourished  for  at  least  a 
considerable  time  past. 

In  southern  California  as  far  north  as  the  San  Bernardino 
range,  and  along  the  Colorado  river  to  a  somewhat  higher  lati¬ 
tude,  a  thin,  light,  brittle,  porous,  red  pottery  was  manufactured, 
identical  with  that  made  at  the  present  time  by  the  Luiseno  and 
Mohave,  and  somewhat  similar  to  the  ware  manufactured  by 
the  Pima  and  their  ancestors  in  the  Gila  valley.  It  seems  that 
the  pottery  of  the  Seri  Indians  of  Sonora,  whose  culture  shows 
many  affiliations  with  that  of  the  tribes  of  Yuman  family,  of 
which  the  Seri  were  at  one  time  believed  to  have  formed  part, 
was  of  the  same  type.  The  pottery  of  the  Colorado  river,  both 
past  and  present,  is  usually  decorated  with  paintings  in  yellow 
oxide  of  iron,  which  burns  to  a  dull  red.  The  pottery  of  the 
part  of  southern  California  farther  removed  from  Arizona  is 
in  most  cases  undecorated,  though  its  material,  forms,  and  tech¬ 
nical  processes  are  identical.  Most  of  the  ancient  pottery  pre¬ 
served  in  this  part  of  the  state  has  been  found  in  the  mountain 
region  of  San  Diego  county,  and  consists  either  of  jars  in  which 
ashes  of  the  dead  have  been  preserved  or  of  vessels  in  which 
food  was  hidden  for  storage.  North  of  the  San  Bernardino 


36  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


range  and  west  of  Los  Angeles,  pottery  does  not  seem  ever  to 
have  been  manufactured,  nor  imported  from  the  south  except 
possibly  in  occasional  stray  pieces. 

The  second  and  less  important  area  in  which  the  California 
Indians  made  pottery  is  in  the  southern  end  of  the  San  Joaquin 
valley  and  adjacent  portions  of  the  Sierra  Nevada.  The  pottery 
here  is  grayish  black,  undecorated  except  occasionally  by  a  few 
incisions,  and  exceedingly  crude.  It  possesses  little  strength, 
the  forms  are  unusually  irregular,  and  in  general  it  is  but  poorly 
and  roughly  made.  It  seems  to  have  been  constructed  prima¬ 
rily  for  the  purpose  of  cooking.  It  has  been  made,  up  to  the 
present  day,  by  the  southern  Yokuts  and  the  Shoshoneans  of  the 
southern  Sierra.  That  it  was  not  an  art  of  primary  importance 
among  these  people  is  made  clear  by  the  fact  that  their  basketry 
is  fully  equal  in  technique  as  well  as  in  variety  of  forms  to  that 
of  neighboring  tribes  who  do  not  use  pottery.  There  are  no 
explicit  records  that  any  ancient  pieces  of  this  type  of  pottery 
have  been  found,  but  it  seems  that  such  is  the  case. 

PICTOGRAPHS 

Pictographs,  either  carved  or  painted,  are  comparatively 
scarce  in  California  except  in  the  region  east  of  the  Sierra  Ne¬ 
vada  occupied  by  Shoshonean  tribes,  and  in  such  other  parts  of 
the  state  as  have  in  historical  times  been  either  held  by  Sho¬ 
shoneans  or  by  tribes  living  sufficiently  in  their  proximity  to  have 
come  under  their  influence.  The  typical  non-Shoshonean  petro- 
graph  in  California  is  executed  in  several  colors. 

In  Inyo  county,  east  of  the  Sierra,  there  are  a  number  of 
well-made  rock-carvings.  On  the  California  side  of  this  great 


THE  ARCHAEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


37 


range  the  most  northerly  pictographs  recorded  are  near  Summit 
station  in  Placer  county.  A  petroglyph  is  also  reported  in 
Calaveras  or  Tuolumne  county  not  far  from  Sonora.  There 
is  a  record  of  another  on  the  upper  Tuolumne  river.  There  are 
two  sites  in  the  foothills  of  Tulare  county,  one  near  Lindsay,  the 
other  on  Tule  River  reservation  above  Porterville.  The  latter 
shows  unusually  fine  painting,  applied  without  any  incisions  in 
the  rock,  and  in  part  is  well  preserved.  Red-painted  rocks  are 
recorded  as  in  a  canyon  on  Mt  San  Antonio,  on  the  boundary 
between  Los  Angeles  and  San  Bernardino  counties.  Other  sites, 
some  of  which  are  in  need  of  verification  and  some  of  which  are 
well-known  and  have  even  been  defaced,  are  in  Azusa  canyon, 
Los  Angeles  county;  in  a  cave  in  the  Santa  Susanna  mountains 
in  Ventura  county;  four  miles  northeast  from  Santa  Barbara; 
twelve  miles  northwest  from  Santa  Barbara;  near  San  Marcos 
Pass,  in  the  Santa  Inez  mountains,  in  Santa  Barbara  county;  at 
Fisher’s  peak  near  San  Luis  Obispo;  and  a  large  and  well-pre¬ 
served  group  of  paintings  on  an  isolated  rocky  hill  in  the  desert 
Carriso  plains,  also  in  San  Luis  Obispo  county.  In  the  southern¬ 
most  parts  of  the  state,  granite  bowlders  can  still  be  seen  covered 
with  geometrical  paintings  in  red,  which  were  executed  in  com¬ 
paratively  recent  times  by  the  Luiseno  and  Diegueno  Indians  in 
connection  with  their  puberty  ceremonies.  On  the  Santa  Barbara 
islands  several  rude  pictographs,  incised  in  narrow  lines,  have 
been  found  on  implements  and  small  slabs  of  soft  stone.  For 
northern  California  there  are  but  few  records.  There  is  said 
to  be  a  figured  rock  in  Siskiyou  county  not  far  from  Yreka.  On 
the  edge  of  the  Klamath  river,  a  short  distance  below  the  mouth 
of  the  Trinity,  is  a  large  bowlder,  on  one  of  the  smooth  surfaces 


38  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


of  which  are  pecked  many  simple  geometrical  figures,  whose 
character  recalls  the  decorative  motives  used  in  the  art  of  the 
modern  Indians  of  northwestern  California.  It  is  prehistoric  so 
fas  as  the  modern  Indians  are  concerned,  and  is  declared  by  them 
to  be  the  only  object  of  the  kind  known  to  them.  In  southern 
Humboldt  or  northern  Mendocino  county  there  are  one  or  two 
rocks  carved  with  rude  and  simple  figures  of  circles  and  lines. 
Altogether  the  scarcity  of  rock-carvings  and  rock-paintings  in 
California,  which  is  in  entire  accord  with  the  lack  of  symbolic 
and  representative  spirit  shown  by  the  California  Indians,  con¬ 
stitutes  a  striking  difference  from  the  abundance  of  such  records 
throughout  the  Great  Basin  and  Plateau  region  to  the  east. 

PROBLEMS  AND  CONCLUSIONS 

Such  are  the  principal  traits  of  the  archaeology  of  California 
in  its  cultural  aspect  and  as  seen  by  one  whose  acquaintance  was 
originally  with  the  ethnology  of  the  state.  Such  being  the  re¬ 
sults  to  date,  it  remains  to  consider  the  principal  problems  now 
before  the  archaeology  of  California,  and  the  methods  of  attack 
which  are  most  promising. 

The  single  problem  of  greatest  importance  is  undoubtedly 
that  concerning  the  origin  and  early  antiquity  of  man.  The 
final  answer  to  this  is  likely  to  bear  on  the  question  of  the  origin 
of  man  in  general  and  to  be  of  more  than  regional  or  ethnograph¬ 
ical  interest.  The  greatest  opportunity  for  the  discovery  of 
evidence  on  this  question  seems  to  lie  in  the  exploration  of  caves. 
The  gravel  deposits  so  far  have  yielded  negative  results,  and 
the  shellmounds,  while  their  antiquity  is  great  from  a  historical 
point  of  view,  are  almost  certainly  too  recent  to  throw  much 


THE  ARCHAEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


39 


light  on  the  first  appearance  of  man  in  the  region.  If  man 
existed  in  California  in  quaternary  times,  the  chances  are  greater 
that  he  inhabited  the  country  in  late  epochs  of  this  period  than 
in  earlier  ones.  While  the  search  in  caves  dating  to  the  early 
or  middle  quaternary  accordingly  promises  more  fundamental 
and  more  sensational  results,  if  positive  results  are  obtained,  the 
question,  if  not  of  the  origin,  at  least  of  the  geological  antiquity 
of  man  in  western  America,  is  likely  to  be  sooner  answered  by 
investigation  of  caves  that  are  somewhat  more  recent. 

The  value  of  the  exploration  of  shell  deposits,  particularly 
those  on  San  Francisco  bay,  lies  especially  in  the  fact  that  these 
mounds  go  back  to  an  age  which  is  measurable  in  terms  of  geol¬ 
ogy.  They  present,  therefore,  one  of  the  few  instances  as  yet 
found  in  North  America  of  a  field  of  exploration  in  which  there 
is  hope  that  relations  of  time  not  only  among  the  remains  them¬ 
selves,  but  in  comparison  with  remains  elsewhere,  can  be  deter¬ 
mined.  Many  of  the  mounds  have  partly  or  wholly  disap¬ 
peared,  and  they  are  daily  undergoing  destruction  through  the 
agencies  of  civilization.  Many  of  the  questions  as  to  their 
antiquity,  and  as  to  the  development  of  culture  which  the  imple¬ 
ments  contained  in  them  may  show,  depend  for  a  satisfactory 
answer  on  the  accumulation  of  a  large  mass  of  material.  While 
something  has  been  done,  it  has  served  to  show  how  problems 
much  more  fundamental  may  be  solved  if  a  greater  quantity  of 
data  can  be  amassed.  The  further  and  extensive  exploration  of 
these  mounds  on  a  systematic  scale  is  therefore  not  only  a  de¬ 
sideratum  but  an  urgent  need. 

The  mounds  of  the  interior  valley,  which  consist  more  large¬ 
ly  of  earth  than  of  shell  deposits,  are  on  the  whole  less  readily 


4o 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


productive  either  of  collections  or  of  data  than  the  shell  deposits 
of  the  coast.  The  results  obtained  in  the  vicinity  of  Stockton, 
however,  show  that  an  entirely  uniform  type  of  culture  did  not 
by  any  means  exist  throughout  central  California  in  former  pe¬ 
riods,  and  promise  to  make  the  information  obtained  by  a  more 
thorough  exploration  of  the  sites  in  the  valley  qualitatively  im¬ 
portant  in  proportion  as  the  material  finds  may  be  quantitatively 
insignificant. 

The  entire  hilly  and  mountainous  portion  of  the  central 
part  of  the  state,  both  near  the  coast  and  in  the  interior,  whose 
topography  afforded  but  little  opportunity  for  the  accumulation 
of  actual  mounds,  has  never  been  systematically  explored.  The 
remains  in  such  regions  are  so  much  more  scattered  than  in  a 
district  containing  mounds,  that  exploration  is  much  more  dif¬ 
ficult  and  likely  to  be  less  productive  from  the  museum  stand¬ 
point.  There  are,  however,  many  ancient  village  sites,  and 
some  that  have  been  more  recently  abandoned,  the  locations  of 
which  are  known,  and  which  should  be  investigated.  Most  of 
these  are  in  locations  particularly  favorable  for  either  agricul¬ 
ture  or  mining  and  therefore  in  imminent  danger  of  partial  or 
complete  destruction  before  they  can  be  properly  examined. 
Almost  all  that  we  know  of  the  archaeology  of  the  central  region 
of  California  other  than  the  mound  districts,  comprising  the 
greater  part  of  the  state,  is  through  the  collection  and  descrip¬ 
tion  of  implements  that  have  been  found  on  the  surface  or  have 
been  unintentionally  uncovered  by  the  miner  or  agriculturist. 

The  coast  region  of  central  and  northern  California  is  also 
almost  entirely  unexplored,  both  north  and  south  of  San  Fran¬ 
cisco  bay.  The  precipitous  shores  which  characterize  the  great- 


THE  ARCHAEOLOGY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


41 


er  part  of  the  coast  on  both  sides  of  this  bay  are  not  so  favorable 
to  considerable  accumulations  containing  remains  of  culture  as 
the  lower  and  sheltered  inland  shores  of  the  bay.  There  are, 
however,  parts  of  the  coast,  such  as  the  bay  of  Monterey  and 
Humboldt  bay,  in  which  conditions  approximating  those  of  San 
Francisco  bay  exist,  and  for  which  the  prediction  can  safely  be 
made  that  archaeological  exploration  cannot  under  any  circum¬ 
stance  be  entirely  fruitless.  Even  the  less  promising  parts 
of  the  coast  will  probably  show  more  records  than  is  now  an¬ 
ticipated.  Explorations  on  the  northernmost  coast  of  California 
will  be  of  particular  importance  because  they  will  determine 
whether  the  specialized  modern  aboriginal  civilization  of  this 
region  is  ancient  or  recent,  and  if  recent  are  likely  to  make  clear 
its  development. 

In  southern  California  the  Santa  Barbara  region,  after  all 
that  has  been  removed  or  destroyed,  still  offers  fruitful  oppor¬ 
tunities  in  material  to  the  collector,  though  the  cream  has  un¬ 
doubtedly  been  skimmed,  largely  by  collectors  without  serious 
interest  other  than  in  possession.  The  ancient  culture  of  this  re¬ 
gion  is,  however,  so  much  better  known  than  that  of  others  parts 
of  California,  that  from  a  scientific  point  of  view  its  further  ex¬ 
ploration  is  at  present  much  less  desirable  than  systematic  work 
almost  anywhere  else.  What  there  is  need  of  in  the  Santa  Bar¬ 
bara  region  is  not  the  miscellaneous  gathering  in  of  specimens, 
of  which  there  has  been  only  too  much,  but  systematic  examina¬ 
tion  of  the  deposits  in  which  these  specimens  occur,  along  the 
lines  of  the  work  recently  done  on  the  San  Francisco  bay  mounds, 
with  a  view  to  acquiring  information  as  to  cultural  and  chrono¬ 
logical  relations. 


42 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Southern  California  outside  of  the  islands  and  the  imme¬ 
diate  Santa  Barbara  region,  has  proved  to  be  a  much  less  pro¬ 
ductive  field  for  collecting  and  is  therefore  much  less  known. 
Many  of  the  remains  are  of  the  Santa  Barbara  type,  but  there 
are  also  elements,  such  as  pottery,  which  are  foreign  to  the  Santa 
Barbara  culture.  The  nature  and  distribution  of  these,  as  well 
as  the  extent  of  the  relations  with  the  culture  of  the  islands,  are 
in  need  of  determination.  The  coast  south  of  Los  Angeles  has 
never  been  carefully  explored.  Some  important  discoveries  are 
probably  also  to  be  made  in  the  caves  and  canyons  of  the  chain 
of  mountains  extending  eastward  and  then  southward  from 
Santa  Barbara  county  to  San  Diego  county. 

We  have  begun  to  be  able  to  form  some  estimate  of  the 
civilization  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  California,  and  we  have 
just  commenced  to  obtain  a  glimpse  of  the  chronological  and 
historical  relations  of  this  culture.  What  progress  has  been 
made  has  shown,  however,  in  even  greater  measure  what  we  do 
not  know  than  what  we  do  know,  and  emphasizes  above  all  the 
importance  of  what  we  can  hope  to  learn  through  careful,  sys¬ 
tematic,  unprejudiced,  and  extended  investigation. 

University  of  California 
Affiliated  Colleges,  San  Francisco 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


BY 


J.  Walter  Fewkes 


INTRODUCTION 


LTHOUGH  considerable  progress  has  been  made  dur¬ 


ing  the  last  two  decades  toward  increasing  our  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  character  of  prehistoric  Pueblo  pottery 


and  the  decipherment  of  its  decorative  symbolism,  the  subjects 
are  still  more  or  less  obscure.  This  obscurity  is  due  in  part  to 
a  paucity  in  observations  bearing  on  the  geographical  distribu¬ 
tion  of  ancient  ceramics.  There  still  remain  several  Pueblo 
areas  concerning  the  prehistoric  pottery  of  which  we  are  pro¬ 
foundly  ignorant,  as  no  specimen  of  undoubtedly  prehistoric 
ware  therefrom  has  yet  been  described.  A  knowledge  of  the 
localities  from  which  ancient  pottery  is  obtained  is  necessary  if 
the  specimens  are  to  be  used  in  scientific  studies.  The  locality 
of  the  individual  ruin  from  which  ceramic  objects  have  been 
collected  must  be  known  before  we  can  arrive  at  an  accurate 
interpretation  of  the  lessons  they  teach. 

Considering  the  many  years  that  have  been  devoted  by  zeal¬ 
ous  students  to  the  archaeology,  history,  and  ethnology  of  the 
Zuni  Indians,  it  is  strange  that  nothing  of  great  moment  has 
yet  been  published  on  prehistoric  Zuni  pottery.1  Several  old 

1  It  is  very  desirable  that  one  of  the  great  ruins  illustrative  of  prehistoric  Zuni  culture 
be  excavated  and  repaired  to  serve  as  a  “type  ruin”  of  this  region. 


44 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


vessels  in  the  form  of  ancient  heirlooms  have  been  gathered  from 
households  of  this  pueblo,  but  none  of  these  can  be  regarded  as 
more  than  a  few  generations  old.  Prehistoric  Zuni  pottery  is 
practically  undescribed,  notwithstanding  this  is  one  of  the  most 
important  Pueblo  areas  with  which  the  ethnologist  is  familiar. 
The  relations  of  the  prehistoric  people  of  the  Zuni  valley  to  those 
of  other  regions  of  the  Southwest  and  to  those  now  inhabiting 
the  pueblo  that  has  given  name  to  the  valley,  cannot  be  accurate¬ 
ly  determined  unless  we  have  exact  knowledge  of  culture  objects 
from  ruins  in  this  region.  As  pottery  furnishes  some  of  the  best 
data  from  which  to  obtain  a  knowledge  of  prehistoric  culture, 
it  is  important  in  this  connection  to  study  objects  of  this  character. 

From  the  autumn  of  1888  until  the  spring  of  1889,  the 
Hemenway  Archaeological  Expedition,  of  which  Mr  F.  H. 
Cushing  was  then  director,  made  extensive  excavations  at  two 
ruins  in  the  Zuni  valley,  called  Halona  and  Heshotauthla,  the 
former  situated  just  across  the  river  from  the  present  Zuni 
pueblo,  the  latter  about  fifteen  miles  to  the  eastward,  near  the 
road  from  Zuni  to  Nutria  and  Pescado.  In  the  course  of  these 
excavations 1  there  was  obtained  a  collection  of  prehistoric  pot¬ 
tery,  now  in  the  Peabody  Museum  of  Harvard  University,  which 
has  never  been  described  or  figured.  This  collection  forms  the 
basis  of  the  present  article. 

The  antiquities  from  the  ruins  were  placed  in  the  writer’s 
hands  for  study  in  the  winter  of  1889  by  Mrs  Mary  Hemenway, 

1  The  excavations  at  Halona  were  conducted  under  Mr.  Cushing’s  personal  supervi¬ 
sion,  and  the  work  at  Heshotauthla  was  also  initiated  by  him;  but  departing  for  the  East  in 
October,  1888,  Mr  Cushing  assigned  the  continuation  of  the  task  to  Mr  F.  W.  Hodge,  with 
Mr  E.  P.  Gaston  in  immediate  charge  of  the  laboring  force.  Mr  Hodge  made  frequent 
visits  to  the  excavations  from  the  Expedition  headquarters  at  Zuni,  surveyed  and  mapped 
the  pueblo,  and  submitted  to  Mr  Cushing  full  reports  on  the  progress  of  the  work,  until 
deep  snows  compelled  its  abandonment. 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


45 


whose  death  a  few  years  later  practically  closed  the  field  work 
of  her  expedition.  Accompanying  the  collection  was  a  large 
number  of  water-color  drawings  made  by  Miss  Margaret  W. 
Magill  (now  Mrs  F.  W.  Hodge),  and  a  map  of  the  ruin  of 
Heshotauthla  prepared  by  Mr  Hodge.1  Years  ago  the  author 
likewise  had  access  to  a  card  catalogue  of  the  objects  exhumed 
in  the  course  of  the  excavations  at  the  latter  ruin.  This  cata¬ 
logue  is  now  in  the  Peabody  Museum  of  American  Archaeology 
and  Ethnology  at  Cambridge. 

After  a  study  of  this  material  the  author  visited 2  Hesho¬ 
tauthla  in  the  summer  of  1890,  and  made  further  notes  on  its 
general  appearance,  together  with  a  few  photographs  of  differ¬ 
ent  parts  of  the  ruin  as  an  aid  to  his  studies. 

As  it  was  not  the  author’s  good  fortune  to  be  present  when 
the  excavations  were  made,  he  cannot  present  more  than  a  gen¬ 
eral  account  of  the  major  antiquities  of  these  ancient  Zuni  pue¬ 
blos,  but  it  has  seemed  well  to  give  a  description  of  the  ruins  as 
an  introduction  to  a  study  of  their  pottery  and  other  objects. 
Since  this  article  was  written,  the  author  has  greatly  enlarged  his 
knowledge  of  Pueblo  archaeology,  and  is  now  better  equipped  to 
interpret  the  collection  than  in  1890,  when  a  novice  in  this  field. 

The  collection  of  prehistoric  Zuni  pottery  here  considered  3 

1  For  a  reproduction  of  this  ground-plan,  see  Journal  of  American  Ethnology  and 
Archaology,  l,  1891. 

2  The  author  made  his  first  visit  to  the  ruins  of  Halona  and  Heshotauthla  in  the  sum¬ 
mer  of  1889,  at  which  time  he  remained  at  the  place  only  a  few  hours,  having  no  intention 
of  writing  anything  about  it.  His  second  visit,  in  the  following  summer,  was  likewise 
a  brief  one,  insufficient  to  make  any  extended  observations  on  the  excavations.  As  the 
author  has  conducted  no  archaeological  investigations  on  the  Zuni  reservation,  this 
article,  treating  of  work  done  many  years  ago  by  others,  necessarily  lacks  the  element  of 
personal  observation  which  would  have  greatly  enhanced  its  value. 

3  The  majority  of  the  specimens  (all  of  those  having  catalogue  numbers)  are  from 
Heshotauthla.  The  specimens  of  pottery  without  catalogue  numbers  may  have  been  ob¬ 
tained  at  Halona. 


46  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


is  the  most  complete  one  illustrative  of  this  culture  area  ever 
made,  and  is  believed  to  include  the  most  important  types  of 
archaeological  objects  in  this  region.  The  study  of  these  rem¬ 
nants  of  an  older  people  is  of  great  interest  from  a  comparative 
standpoint,  a  fact  which  has  led  the  author  to  publish  the  results 
as  a  contribution  to  future  archaeological  work  in  this  valley. 

RUIN  OF  HESHOTAUTHLA 

The  ruin  of  Heshotauthla  lies  on  a  slight  elevation,  at  the 
base  of  a  hill  of  moderate  height.  A  fairly  deep  arroyo  extends 
along  the  southern  edge  of  the  pueblo,  cutting  the  mounds  on 
the  side  toward  the  road. 

From  a  distance  the  ruin  appears  as  a  simple  mound;  none 
of  the  old  walls  stand  above  the  surface.  The  surface  of  the 
mound  is  strewn  with  small  stones  and  covered  with  clumps 
of  the  scrubby  sage-brush  so  common  to  the  region.  Although 
the  neighboring  hills  have  many  small  cedars,  there  are  no  large 
trees,  and  the  dry  soil  bears  little  vegetation.  At  the  time  of  the 
writer’s  second  visit  the  place  bore  a  deserted  appearance,  not 
even  an  Indian  house  relieving  the  monotony  of  the  surrounding 
desert.  Much  debris  covered  the  walls  of  the  old  settlement, 
whose  mounds  rise  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  above  the  plain. 

The  walls  revealed  by  the  extensive  excavations  of  this  ruin, 
carried  on  in  the  fall  and  winter  of  1888  by  the  Hemenway, 
Expedition,  were  easily  traceable  in  1890,  so  that  at  that  time 
the  general  form  of  the  pueblo  could  be  made  out  with  fair 
accuracy.  It  was  thought  by  Mr  Cushing,  who  planned  the 
work,  that  excavations  at  Heshotauthla  would  shed  much  light 
on  the  culture  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  the  Zuni  valley, 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


47 


for  this  pueblo  belongs  to  the  type  of  ancient  circular  ruins  only 
a  few  of  which  exist  in  the  neighborhood.  The  circular  form 
of  ruin,  like  the  circular  kiva,  is  very  old  in  the  Pueblo  area. 

On  visiting  this  locality  one  is  impressed  by  the  great 
amount  of  debris  seen  all  about  the  ruins.  This  debris  is  large¬ 
ly  fallen  masonry,  which  is  so  great  in  amount  that  the  rooms  are 
completely  filled  and  most  of  the  walls  covered.  It  consists  not 
only  of  small  flat  stones  such  as  were  used  in  the  construction  of 
the  houses,  but  also  of  soil,  adobe,  ashes,  fragments  of  pottery, 
and  other  materials.  The  amount  of  this  debris  would  lead 
one  to  suppose  that  the  former  height  of  the  pueblo  was  con¬ 
siderable. 

The  cause  of  the  destruction  of  the  pueblo  is  one  which 
has  not  been  satisfactorily  explained.  The  ruin  is  situated  so 
far  from  inhabited  pueblos  that  it  can  hardly  be  supposed  that 
the  walls  were  torn  down  by  the  Zuni  people  for  later  buildings, 
nor  does  it  seem  probable  that  they  would  have  been  overturned 
by  forces  other  than  human.  Zuni  itself  is  too  far  away  (about 
fifteen  miles),  and  there  are  ruins  nearer  their  home  which  the 
inhabitants  of  this  place  could  have  demolished  if  they  needed 
building  materials,  even  if  quarries  were  not  near  at  hand. 
Many  of  the  walls  of  modern  Zuni,  as  of  the  neighboring 
Halona,  are  built  of  adobe. 

General  Features  of  Heshotauthla.  —  The  ruin  of  Heshota- 
uthla  covers  about  an  acre  and  a  half.  The  chambers  average 
about  ten  feet  square;  but  there  is  little  uniformity  in  their 
dimensions,  some  of  the  rooms  being  not  more  than  three  or  four 
feet  square.  The  distance  from  the  bank  of  the  river  to  the 
arroyo  is  about  thirty-five  feet.  Although  the  general  shape  of 


4S  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


the  ruin  is  circular1  (a  section  of  which  is  best  seen  in  the 
southeastern  part),  there  are  evidences  that  there  was  a  rectan¬ 
gular  wall  on  the  northern  and  western  sides,  thus  forming  a 
right  angle  at  the  northwestern  corner.  A  row  of  rooms  ex¬ 
cavated  at  this  point  have  their  walls  intact,  and  present  some 
very  interesting  examples  of  the  style  of  architecture  of  the  rows 
of  old  pueblos.  On  the  southeastern  and  eastern  sides,  where 
the  outline  is  the  arc  of  an  oval,  several  of  the  rooms  which  were 
excavated  show  instructive  features  of  early  Pueblo  architect¬ 
ure.  There  are  also  evidences  of  rooms  in  the  southwestern  sec¬ 
tion.  Walls  of  a  number  of  chambers  were  brought  to  light 
on  the  northern  border  of  the  town.  From  the  above-mentioned 
excavations  one  can  gain  a  fair  idea  of  the  shape  of  the  ruin,  the 
arrangement  of  the  chambers,  and  their  general  characteristics. 
On  the  southern  side  of  the  mound  the  pueblo  rises  like  a  bluff 
from  the  Rio  Zuni;  from  excavations  made  at  this  point  one 
may  suppose  that  here  was  a  dumping-place  not  unlike  that 
overlooking  the  river  on  the  southern  side  of  the  present  pueblo 
of  Zuni.  At  this  point  are  situated  certain  structures,  identified 
as  “ovens,”  which  will  later  be  described. 

The  section  of  the  river-bank  just  east  of  the  “ovens”  shows 
that  the  bluff  at  this  point  is  composed  of  alternating  layers  of 
wood-ashes,  charcoal,  broken  pottery  (mostly  corrugated),  and 
fragments  of  bones.  On  the  northern  side  of  the  pueblo,  the 
mound  covering  the  ruins  rises  more  gradually  than  on  its  south¬ 
ern  side,  the  summit  being  only  a  few  feet  above  the  road. 
From  the  arrangement  of  hillocks  of  earth  on  the  northeastern 
corner  it  would  seem  that  the  whole  ruin  was  formerly  sur- 

1  Although  common  east  and  north  of  Zuni,  circular  ruins  are  lacking  in  the  territory 
tvest  of  that  pueblo. 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


49 


rounded  by  a  simple  wall ;  for  outside  of  the  outer  row  of  rooms 
there  is  a  depression,  as  if  the  remains  of  a  moat,  enclosed  within 
an  elevated  ridge  composed  of  the  debris  from  the  wall.  This 
surrounding  wall  was  traced,  along  the  northern  rim,  to  the 
western  border  of  the  ruin.  On  the  southern  side  of  the  ruin  it 
forms  the  back  of  the  “ovens”  which  were  uncovered  at  that 
point,  while  on  the  southeastern  border  it  is  obscurely  indicated 
by  walls  of  rooms  the  interiors  of  which  were  excavated. 

Extensive  excavations  were  made  slightly  to  the  east  of  the 
center  of  the  ruin.  Those  made  on  the  extreme  eastern  end 
brought  to  light  stone  walls,  but  other  trenches  nearer  the  center 
revealed  no  such  walls,  indicating  a  plaza  or  open  space  in  that 
part  of  the  pueblo.  Holes  dug  in  the  course  of  this  work,  from 
fifteen  to  twenty  feet  deep,  showed  on  their  sides  successive  layers 
of  charcoal,  ashes,  many  potsherds,  and  fragments  of  bone. 

From  the  map  of  the  ruin  it  appears  that  the  largest  number 
of  rooms  was  found  in  the  northern  side  of  the  ruin,  a  conclusion 
not  unlike  what  one  should  expect  from  the  character  of  similar 
circular  pueblos  in  other  parts  of  New  Mexico. 

Character  of  Walls.  —  The  walls  of  Heshotauthla  and  of 
the  different  chambers  are  built  of  small,  apparently  dressed 
stones,  laid  in  adobe  mortar.  Fallen  masonry  is  scattered  all 
about  the  ruin,  some  of  the  building  stones  occurring  at  a  consid¬ 
erable  distance  from  the  mound.  At  certain  points  the  walls  were 
pierced  by  square  openings 1  a  few  inches  in  diameter,  made  by 
the  omission  of  one  of  the  component  stones  in  its  row;  these 
apparently  served  as  windows. 

*  Similar  openings  occur  in  the  rectangular  ruin  on  the  hill  between  Ramah  and 
Pescado,  and  in  the  well-preserved  walls  of  Archeotekopa,  in  the  Zufii  region. 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


50 

The  arrangement,  shape,  and  size  of  the  rooms  vary  con¬ 
siderably  in  different  sections  of  the  ruin.  No  rooms  identifi¬ 
able  as  kivas  were  uncovered.  As  a  rule  the  rooms  at  the  north¬ 
eastern  corner  are  square,  and  arranged  in  single  rows;  those  on 
the  southwestern  side  form  a  double  row  and  in  shape  are  uni¬ 
formly  square.  Elongated  wedge-shaped  and  rectangular  rooms 
occur  in  greatest  numbers  in  the  southeastern  section  of  the  ruin. 
It  seems  as  if  the  builders  of  this  pueblo  were  obliged  to  con¬ 
struct  wedge-shaped  rooms  at  intervals  to  complete  the  oval, 
leaving  many  of  the  rooms  rectangular. 

Passageway.  —  On  the  easternmost  side  there  is  a  narrow 
passageway,  a  few  feet  wide,  with  high  walls  on  each  side.  It 
is  not  impossible  that  before  its  destruction  this  passageway  was 
roofed  over,  and  somewhat  resembled  similar  alleys  seen  in  Zuni 
at  the  present  day.  Apparently,  however,  the  passageway  in 
Heshotauthla  did  not  lead  from  outside  the  walls  into  an  open 
plaza,  or  from  one  lane  to  another,  but  ended  blindly  in  a  cham¬ 
ber  walled  up  on  three  sides.  Just  south  of  this  passageway  is 
a  large  room  having  an  oblique  rectangular  form.  Diminutive 
rooms,  not  more  than  half  the  size  of  the  majority,  occur  on  the 
eastern  end  of  the  northern  series  of  chambers  in  the  northwest¬ 
ern  corner.  A  construction  resembling  a  flue,  or  air-shaft,  is 
found  in  the  first  room  of  the  northwestern  corner  of  the  western 
series  of  rooms.  This  structure  is  built  of  stone  set  against  the 
southeastern  wall.  There  are  two  other  vertical  flues  having 
rounded  walls  plastered  with  adobe,  built  side  by  side.  Wheth¬ 
er  these  shafts  should  be  regarded  as  kiva  ventilators  is  not  evi¬ 
dent.  It  would  seem  from  their  position  and  general  structure 
that  they  were  chimneys,  but  their  external  openings  being  ab- 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


Si 


sent,  and  no  sign  of  a  fireplace  or  of  smoke  being  apparent,  their 
meaning  is  not  determinable.  A  similar  flue  occurs  in  the 
northern  series  in  the  second  room  from  the  northwestern  corner. 

In  examining  the  rooms  excavated  at  Heshotauthla  one  is 
impressed  by  their  small  size.  That  these  chambers  were  dwell¬ 
ing-rooms,  traces  of  fire  on  the  walls  would  seem  to  bear  witness, 
but  they  are  so  diminutive  that  it  would  be  difficult  for  a  man 
to  extend  himself  on  these  floors  at  full-length.  Many  of  these 
rooms  are  not  smaller  than  some  of  the  older  rooms  in  the 
modern  pueblo  of  Zuni,  especially  those  at  the  covered  en¬ 
trances  to  the  “sacred  dance  plaza.”  Although  somewhat 
larger  than  the  smallest  chambers  in  Heshotauthla,  modern  Zuni 
rooms  are  often  very  small.1 

The  small  size  of  the  rooms  in  Pueblo  ruins,  as  those  of  the 
Chaco  canyon,  has  been  commented  on  by  other  observers.  In 
many  of  the  cliff-ruins,  where  the  rooms  are  of  diminutive  size, 
the  evidence  that  they  were  inhabited  is  scanty,  although  traces 
of  smoke  often  appear  on  the  walls.  These  rooms  could  hardly 
be  living-rooms,  but  rather  are  storerooms  or  sleeping-places. 
The  rooms  excavated  in  other  Zuni  ruins,  as  Halona,  are  likewise 
very  small,  not  larger  than  those  at  Heshotauthla.2 

Ovens.  —  Just  outside  the  south  wall  of  Heshotauthla  there 
is  a  cluster  of  pits,  identified  as  communal  ovens.  They  consist 
of  a  number  of  well-built  stone  structures,  situated  contiguous  to 

*  The  oldest  rooms  in  the  Hopi  pueblos  and  the  cliff-dwellings  are  also  very  small. 

2  In  the  adobe  of  certain  of  these  ancient  small  chambers  there  are  found  impressions 
of  corn,  indicating  that  they  were  storage  places.  Similar  chambers  exist  in  modern  Zuni, 
and  every  provident  Hopi  family  can  show  bushels  of  corn  piled  up  in  stacks  in  the 
lower  rooms  of  their  dwelling.  Some  of  the  Hopi  corn  is  several  years  old,  but,  however 
ancient,  is  repeatedly  overhauled,  freed  from  weevils,  and  again  stored  away  for  future  use. 


52 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


the  pueblo  wall,  their  component  stones  being  cut  into  more  or 
less  irregular  cubes,  laid  in  adobe,  with  flat  faces  inward.  In 
most  places  they  had  been  covered  by  debris.  Their  walls  are 
curved,  rounded,  or  irregularly  oval.  At  the  bases  of  these 
structures  there  are  flat  stones  set  in  the  sides. 

These  fire-holes  are  not  unlike  ovens  at  Walpi  and  modern 
Zuni;  but  in  most  of  the  pueblos  of  the  Rio  Grande  the  ovens 
are  conical,  and  are  built  on  the  roofs  of  the  houses,  as  well  as 
on  the  ground.  Similar  communal  ovens  existed  in  the  ancient 
pueblos  along  the  Little  Colorado  and  in  southern  Arizona;  but 
these  must  be  distinguished  from  the  immense  pits  in  which 
mescal  was  roasted. 

POTTERY  OBJECTS 

Although  the  prehistoric  pottery  from  Heshotauthla  has  a 
distant  likeness  to  modern  Zuni  ware,  its  symbolism  is  radically 
different.  Moreover,  while  not  characteristic  of  pottery  now 
made  in  the  Zuni  valley,  it  is  closely  related  to  that  obtained  from 
ruins  along  the  Little  Colorado,  of  which  the  Zuni  river  is  a 
tributary.  The  various  forms  of  pottery,  and  its  symbolism,  that 
occur  in  the  Little  Colorado  ruins,  appear  also  at  Heshotauthla. 
Among  these  are  jars,  bowls,  ladles,  cups,  and  other  forms,  food- 
bowls  predominating.  The  food-bowls,  as  a  rule,  are  shallow, 
with  rounded  lips  and  depressions  in  the  bottom;  the  ladles  are 
heavy,  and  are  provided  with  handles  some  of  which  have  holes 
in  a  row  along  the  upper  side. 

The  predominating  colors  of  ancient  Zuni  pottery,  as  well 
brought  out  in  plates  II  -  V,  are  generally  red,  with  white  or 
brown  figures.  No  glazing  over  the  whole  surface  was  seen, 


Pueblo  Ruins 


Plate  I. 


5fissM.MagiIl.pxt. 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  OBJECTS  OF  STONE!,  BONE!.  AND  CLAY 


B  Meisel,liih.B.ostor. 


34 

Q 


36 


24 


37 


2  6 


mr 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


53 


although  a  superficial  gloss,  resembling  a  glaze,  sometimes 
appears  over  some  of  the  brown  and  black  figures.  Yellow- 
brown  and  whitish  pottery  sometimes  occurs,  but  no  instance  of 
a  true  black-and-white  ware  is  figured.  This  kind  of  ware,  so 
characteristic  of  the  modern  Zuni  and  found  so  constantly  in 
cliff-dwellings,  is  supposed  to  be  intrusive  or  of  late  introduction 
into  the  Zuni  valley. 

Corrugated  Ware.  —  The  collection  of  pottery  found  at 
Heshotauthla  contains  many  examples  of  corrugated  or  coiled 
ware.  This  variety  of  earthenware  is  similar  to  that  from  other 
ancient  pueblos,  and  is  mentioned  by  Bandelier,  Cushing,  Stev¬ 
enson,  Holmes,  and  other  writers.  It  would  appear  from  the 
oldest  historical  references  to  Pueblo  ceramics  that  the  modern 
painted  and  smooth  ware  is  more  recent  than  the  indented  or 
corrugated  type.  Mr  Bandelier  was  assured  by  Senor  Vijil 
that  this  kind  of  ware  was  rarely  “met  with  over  New  Mexico 
except  at  old  pueblo  ruins  or  by  digging,”  and  he  feels  “justified 
in  assuming  it  to  have  been  the  manufactured  ware  of  a  people 
distinct  from  the  Pecos  tribe  or  the  Pueblo  Indians  of  New 
Mexico  in  general,  and  their  predecessors  in  point  of  time.” 
The  discovery  of  corrugated  ware  in  association  with  the  smooth 
painted  variety,  in  the  ruins  of  the  Zuni  valley,  would  seem  to 
imply  that  they  were  used  together.  Prof.  W.  H.  Holmes  says. 
“It  is  my  impression,  as  already  stated,  that  the  coiled  form  may 
be  the  most  archaic  of  the  ancient  Pueblo  pottery.” 

Smooth  Decorated  Ware.  —  The  symbols  on  ancient  Zuni 
pottery  are  characteristic,  but  for  the  greater  part  are  geomet¬ 
rical  in  character.  A  few  life  forms  exist.1  The  manufacture 

1  Unfortunately  the  colored  plates  accompanying  this  article  do  not  include  vessels 
bearing  certain  important  symbols,  especially  life  forms. 


54 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


of  coiled  indented  ware  of  the  kind  found  in  the  cliff-dwellings 
appears  to  have  ceased  in  modern  times. 

Ladle  with  Dance  Figures.  —  A  black-and-white  ware  ladle 
with  a  life  figure  is  one  of  the  most  instructive  and  interesting 
found  by  the  Hemenway  Expedition  at  Heshotauthla.  Its  bowl 
is  much  broken,  but  bears  on  its  surface  the  representation  of  a 
dance  figure,  which  is  entire.  This  is  represented  as  having  a 
large  head;  two  eyes;  two  arms,  each  with  three  fingers;  two 
legs,  each  foot  terminating  in  three  toes.  An  imitation  of  a  fox- 
skin  hangs  in  the  rear  from  the  waist,  reminding  one  of  a  figure 
of  a  dancer.  The  head  of  the  figure  is  so  placed  that  it  is  opposite 
the  handle.  The  interior  of  the  bowl  is  encircled  by  three  black 
lines  —  a  broad  band  in  the  middle  with  a  smaller  one  on  each 
side.  Upon  the  middle  black  band  there  are  drawn  white  dia¬ 
monds,  each  having  a  central  black  spot.  There  is  no  decoration 
on  the  exterior  of  the  bowl,  which  is  of  uniform  light-gray  color. 
The  end  of  the  handle  is  unfortunately  broken  where  there  seems 
to  have  once  been  an  opening  for  suspension.  The  upper  part  of 
the  handle  is  decorated  with  a  black  band  in  which  are  drawn 
white  squares  and  triangles,  each  of  which  has  a  curved  line 
extending  irregularly  through  it.  The  meaning  of  this  decora¬ 
tion  is  not  clear,  but  its  resemblance  to  a  serpent  is  suggestive. 
One  would  be  tempted  to  associate  this  ladle  with  a  snake  cere¬ 
mony,  or  with  serpent  worship,  if  this  cult 1  had  once  existed 
among  the  inhabitants  of  the  Zuni  valley,  an  interpretation  to 
which  the  outline  of  the  dance  figure,  as  well  as  the  figure  of  the 
serpent,  both  point. 

1  Whenever  in  the  Southwest  we  find  Snake  clans,  we  are  sure  to  find  traces  of  a 
serpent  cult 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


55 


Professor  Holmes  figures,  from  a  ruin  near  St  George, 
Utah,  a  bowl  decorated  with  two  human  figures  with  extended 
elbows.1  These  figures  have  nothing  corresponding  to  the  fox- 
skin  decoration  of  the  dancers,  but  in  them  the  head  is  surrounded 
by  what  might  be  called  a  halo.  The  same  authority  figures 
another  bowl  fromTusayan  (Canyon  de  Chelly?)  with  two  small 
human  figures  on  the  bottom  of  the  bowl.  He  writes  that  the 
“marked  peculiarities  of  the  ornamentation  and  color  of  these 
bowls  givejfise  to  the  idea  that  they  may  have  been  intended  for 
some  special  service  of  a  ceremonial  character.”  While  the 
general  design  of  the  decoration  of  the  bowl  figured  by  him  is 
the  same  as  that  on  the  bowl  from  Heshotauthla,  the  details  are 
carried  out  somewhat  differently,  and  there  are  striking  differ¬ 
ences  in  their  colors. 

Similar  figures  representing  dance  images  are  found  else¬ 
where,  as  on  the  plastered  walls  of  prehistoric  cliff-dwellings. 
In  his  account  of  the  wonderful  Cliff  Palace  2  in  the  Mesa  Verde 
National  Park,  Mr  F.  H.  Chapin  represents  a  figure  of  a  dancer 
painted  on  a  wall  of  a  room,  recalling  similar  figures  found  on 
certain  Zuni  jars,  although  somewhat  different  from  that  found 
at  Heshotauthla.  The  figure  from  the  Mesa  Verde  ruin  is  repre¬ 
sented  as  blowing  an  instrument  not  unlike  the  flutes  used  by  the 
Flute  priests  of  Walpi.  An  elaborate  nine-days  festival,  called 
the  Flute  Dance,  occurs  biennially  in  the  Hopi  pueblos;  and  the 
pictograph  from  Canyon  de  Chelly,  representing  three  figures 
with  flutes,  may  refer  to  a  similar  ceremony  at  Lenyanobi,  a  Hopi 
ruin  where  the  Flute  clans  once  lived. 


1  Pottery  of  the  Ancient  Pueblos,  Fourth  Report,  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  fig.  266. 

2  No  such  figure  is  now  visible  on  the  walls  of  this  ruin. 


56  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  decoration  of  the  ruin  with  rows  of  dots  or  bands  occurs 
frequently  in  bowls  from  ancient  Colorado,  but  this  is  rare  as  a 
decorative  motive  on  bowls  from  Heshotauthla. 

Butterfly  Figure.  —  A  symbol  identified  as  a  butterfly  ap¬ 
pears  on  two  whole  vessels  from  Heshotauthla,  and,  possibly  in 
a  very  much  conventionalized  form,  on  a  potsherd.  One  of 


Fig.  1 — Butterfly  Vase.  (Diameter  6|  inches) 


these  vessels  (plate  V,  3)  is  a  flat  dish  with  this  symbol  on  the 
inside;  the  other  (fig.  1),  a  broad-mouthed  jar  with  perpendic¬ 
ular  neck,  has  three  of  these  figures  on  the  outside.  The  fragment 
of  another  vessel  has  a  triangular  figure,  the  most  convention¬ 
alized  symbol  of  the  butterfly. 

Two  jars  bearing  this  symbol  were  found  in  the  excavations 
at  Halona.  One  is  a  double,  the  other  a  single  vessel.  It  appears 


ANCIENT  ZUNX  POTTERY 


57 


that  figures  of  butterflies  and  moths  were  favorite  ones  among 
ancient  potters,  and  have  not  passed  out  of  use  among  modern 

Pueblos. 

In  Mr  James  Stevenson’s  illustrated  catalogue  1  of  pottery, 
labeled  “Moki,”  some  objects  noted  in  which  are  really  from 
Zuni,  there  is  a  prayer-basket  made  of  clay  with  the  figure  of  a 
butterfly  on  the  inside.  This  symbol  is  triangular  in  shape,  and 
has  rows  of  dots  on  the  edge  and  two  curved  projections  midway 
of  one  side. 

The  decoration  found  on  a  fragment  of  another  vessel 
somewhat  resembles  the  butterfly  ornament  described  above,  con¬ 
sisting  of  a  simple  triangular  figure,  within  which  is  a  second; 
and  on  the  sides  are  represented  small  blocks  corresponding  with 
the  dots,  which  do  not  occur  on  the  outer  line.  The  two  anterior 
appendages  are  replaced  by  a  cross,  the  longer  shaft  of  which 
occupies  the  median  line  of  the  triangle.  The  resemblance  of 
this  figure  to  a  butterfly  is  very  distant,  so  highly  conventional¬ 
ized  is  the  symbol. 

A  similar  butterfly  decoration  occurs  on  two  jars  from  Halo- 
na.  On  one  of  these,  which  is  double,  the  butterfly  figure  is 
found  on  the  upper  portion. 

The  writer  identifies  the  above  figure  as  conventionalized 
symbols  of  the  butterfly,  from  their  rude  resemblance  to  this 
insect  with  outspread  wings;  but  this  identification  is  partly 
vitiated  by  the  fact  that  birds  are  sometimes  represented  in 
ancient  Pueblo  pottery  by  like  symbols. 

One  of  the  jars  from  Halona  is  more  rounded  and  graceful 
in  its  lines  than  those  above  mentioned,  and  is  without  a  zigzag 


1  Second.  Report,  Bureau  of  Ethnology ,  1884. 


58  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


decoration  about  the  neck.  This  figure  is  in  this  case  replaced 
by  three  triangular  symbols  similarly  situated  but  differently 
colored.  The  outlines  of  the  butterfly  in  this  instance  are  drawn 
in  black.  The  head  is  indicated  by  two  extensions  on  the  side  of 
the  triangle  that  is  without  serrations. 

The  middle  line  of  the  triangle,  extending  from  midway 
of  one  side  to  the  opposite  angle,  is  crossed  by  two  black  lines 
to  each  of  which  are  added  black  terrace  figures  edged  with 
white  lines.  There  are  three  of  these  triangular  figures  on  the 
surface  of  a  vessel-  from  Halona.  Alternating  with  the  same 
are  three  rectangular  figures,  with  no  resemblance  to  the  trian¬ 
gular  except  in  a  very  distant  way.  All  the  figures  on  this  speci¬ 
men  are  painted  on  a  brick-red  ground.  It  is  the  only  vessel  in 
which  the  round  head  of  the  so-called  butterfly  is  represented. 

Nos.  5128  and  5129  in  the  collection  have  also  the  butterfly 
pattern,  which  in  the  latter  differs  considerably  from  that  last 
described.  An  important  point  of  difference  is  the  separation 
of  the  two  component  parts  of  the  triangle  along  the  median 
line,  and  the  existence  of  a  middle  line  between  them.  There 
is  no  enlargement  of  the  line  representing  the  head,  and  the  out¬ 
lines  of  the  wings  are  in  black  on  a  red  ground.  The  step-like 
figure  on  the  outer  border  of  the  sides  is  more  evident  and  the 
indentations  are  less  numerous. 

A  pictograph  copied  by  Mr  G.  K.  Gilbert1  at  Oakley 
Springs,  Arizona,  was  identified  by  Tuba,  an  Oraibi  chief,  as  a 
butterfly.  This  pictograph  closely  resembles  the  butterfly  orna¬ 
ment  on  a  bowl  from  Heshotauthla,  except  that  the  wings,  which 

1  See  Mallery,  Picture-Writings  of  the  North  American  Indians,  First  Report, 
Bureau  of  Ethnology ,  1880,  p.  47. 


Pueblo  Ruin s 


Plate  II. 


s  M  Magjll.pxl. 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


B.Meis  el,  lith.  Boston 


r  •  ,.r 


' 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


59 


are  crossed  by  lines  of  dots,  are  incised,  and  the  posterior  part  of 
the  body  is  prolonged  into  a  triangle. 

Mr  F.  H.  Cushing  1  figures  two  paintings  of  the  “sacred 
butterfly”  of  Zuni.  As  both  of  these  representations  are  some¬ 
what  different  from  those  seen  by  the  writer  on  the  prehistoric 
pottery  brought  from  Heshotauthla  and  Halona,  it  is  believed 
that  they  are  more  modern  in  character.  A  striking  difference 
between  them  is  that  four  slender  wings  are  represented,  as  in 
the  pictograph  at  Oakley  Springs.  One  of  Mr  Cushing’s  figures 
(No.  560)  somewhat  resembles  the  so-called  conventionalized 
“dragon-flies”  found  on  modern  pottery.  Paintings  of  birds 
also  closely  resemble  the  figures  on  ancient  pottery  which  are 
ascribed  to  the  butterfly;  but,  in  these  highest  forms  of  decora¬ 
tion,  symbolism  and  conventionalism  predominate. 

A  large  spherical  amphora  (plate  III,  6)  has  a  small,  slightly 
raised  neck,  and  two  small,  knob-like,  perforated  handles.  Its 
color  is  brick-red,  with  faint  black  decoration  consisting  of  tri¬ 
angles,  parallel  lines,  and  terraces.  There  are  also  large  com¬ 
pound  patterns  of  rectangular  shape,  with  steps  within  and  a 
central  coil. 

A  broken  though  complete  red-ware  eating-bowl  (No. 
5232)  is  decorated  on  the  inside  with  the  usual  black  triangles 
and  their  variants,  with  black  and  white  lines  on  the  outside. 
This  specimen  was  found  at  the  head  of  a  skeleton  (No.  5231)  2 
in  the  southeastern  excavation  of  Heshotauthla. 

1  Pueblo  Pottery  as  Illustrative  of  Zuni  Culture  Growth,  Fourth  Report,  Bureau 
American  Ethnology ,  1886,  figs.  559,  560. 

2  It  will  be  seen  from  this  and  future  references  that  the  pottery  here  treated  is  chiefly 
mortuary,  and  that  the  dead  were  interred  inside  the  rooms,  generally  under  the  floors. 
The  materials  studied  showed  no  evidence  of  cremation. 


6o 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


A  small  decorated  vessel  of  dark  ware  (No.  5234,  plate  II,  8) 
has  the  form  of  a  fowl;  its  head  and  tail  are  broken;  a  painted 
scroll  decorates  the  sides.  Around  the  rim  extends  a  painted  dec¬ 
oration  consisting  of  a  series  of  rectangles,  each  with  a  central 
dot.  Interesting  features  of  this  vessel  are  the  rude  character  of 
the  vessel  and  of  the  scroll  decoration.  The  rim  is  thick;  its  lower 
part  is  blackened;  on  one  side  the  figures  are  colored  black  in¬ 
stead  of  reddish  brown.  The  scroll  on  the  anterior  side,  under 
the  head  of  the  supposed  bird,  is  double  and  s-shaped.  The 
interior  is  without  decoration.  The  rows  of  dots  along  the  wings 
remind  one  of  similar  dots  on  the  edge  of  the  wings  of  the  so- 
called  butterfly  figures,  already  discussed. 

A  vase  (No.  5235)  containing  beads  and  pendants  was 
found  at  the  skull  of  a  child.  It  was  accompanied  by  vessels 
Nos.  5236  and  5237  (plate  III,  8),  and  was  found  in  the  south¬ 
eastern  part  of  Heshotauthla. 

Numerous  beads  (plate  I,  32-36)  and  pendants  (No.  5235a) 
of  shell  and  stone  were  found  in  vessel  No.  5234,  above  men¬ 
tioned. 

The  small  decorated  red-ware  cup  (No.  5237),  with  a 
handle,  is  ornamented  on  its  interior  surface  with  wavy  white 
lines.  It  was  found  with  No.  5234  (plate  II,  8),  near  the  head 
of  a  much  decayed  skeleton,  in  the  southeastern  excavation. 

No.  5251  (plate  II,  17),  a  small  toy  drinking-cup  of  light- 
colored  ware,  crudely  decorated  on  the  interior  in  light  maroon, 
was  likewise  found  in  the  southeastern  excavation. 

A  small  red-ware  eating-bowl  (No.  5252),  decorated  on 
the  inside  with  black  triangles,  was  found  at  the  head  of  a  much 
decayed  skeleton  in  the  southeastern  excavation. 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


61 


Fragments  of  a  large  vase  of  light  ware  (No.  5254)  are 
elaborately  decorated  in  black  triangles,  checkerwork,  and  paral¬ 
lel  straight  and  curved  lines.  These  were  found  at  the  head  of 
a  skeleton  in  the  southeastern  excavation. 

A  bowl  of  medium  size  (plate  IV,  7)  is  decorated  inside 
with  black  triangles.  It  was  found  near  a  human  skull. 

The  small,  handled  toy  vessel  shown  in  plate  III,  5  (No. 
5258) ,  is  in  the  form  of  the  body  of  a  water-fowl.  Its  decoration 
is  in  black.  It  was  found  in  the  excavation  on  the  western  side 
of  Heshotauthla.  This  piece  of  pottery  somewhat  resembles 
the  moccasin-like  ware  of  modern  Zuni,  figured  by  Mr  Steven¬ 
son.  Its  decoration  consists  of  chevron-shaped  figures  in  white 
and  colored  lines  over  a  black  ground.  There  are  also  parallel 
lines  in  black  on  the  body  and  the  handle.  The  body  is  crossed 
by  transverse  parallel  lines  with  pendants. 

A  toy  (No.  5260),  made  of  concentric  circles  of  clay  in 
imitation  of  basketry,  was  found  in  the  western  excavation. 

No.  5261  is  a  tablet,  made  from  a  decorated  potsherd,  from 
the  same  excavation. 

A  large  fragmentary  yellow-ware  eating-bowl  (No.  5265, 
plate  V,  4)  bears  terraces  and  similar  designs  painted  black.  It 
was  found  at  the  skull  of  a  much  decayed  skeleton,  in  company 
with  vase  No.  5266. 

The  fragment  of  a  small  yellow-ware  eating-bowl  (No. 
5267)  was  found  with  a  skeleton  in  the  southern  excavation. 
This  fragment  is  decorated  with  a  portion  of  a  human  figure 
having  extended  arms  and  legs,  and  with  the  representation  of 
a  fox-skin  tail  hanging  from  the  loins.  The  decoration  on  the 
sides  of  the  interior  of  the  bowl  consists  of  zigzag  lines  and 


62 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


terraces.  On  the  exterior  there  are  encircling  lines,  which  be¬ 
come  rude,  irregular,  and  serrated  near  the  rim. 

A  corrugated  vase  (No.  5271)  contained  the  fragmentary 
skeleton  of  an  infant.  It  was  accompanied  by  a  cup  (No. 

5272). 

A  red-ware  eating  bowl  (No.  5277)  was  found  with  skele¬ 
ton  No.  5276.  It  is  decorated  in  solid  black,  with  light  inter¬ 
vening  spaces  taking  the  forms  of  zigzags,  triangles,  and  bars. 
On  the  inside  there  is  a  symbolic  figure  in  black,  while  the 
outside  of  the  vessel  is  decorated  with  symbolic  figures  in  white, 
representing  rain-clouds.  The  black  figure  closely  resembles 
that  on  the  outside  of  figure  1,  which  may  possibly  be  a  conven¬ 
tionalized  figure  of  the  butterfly.  There  are  projections  from 
the  black  figures  on  the  inner  decoration  of  the  bowl,  which 
extend  toward  a  figure  centrally  placed  on  the  inside.  Near 
one  of  these  there  is  a  round  black  spot.  The  rain-cloud  designs 
on  the  outside  are  five  in  number,  from  each  of  which  extend 
four  or  more  parallel  white  lines. 

A  small  eating-bowl  (No.  5280),  decorated  with  black 
circles  and  zigzags,  was  found  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the 
ruin. 

A  dipper  (No.  5284)  has  a  portion  of  its  bowl  and  a  com¬ 
plete  handle.  The  noteworthy  feature  of  this  specimen  is  that 
its  short  handle  has  a  bifurcated  tip,  the  two  bifurcations  form¬ 
ing  divergent  prongs,  rounded  at  their  tips,  and  curving  slightly 
upward.  The  surface  of  the  handle  is  crossed  by  faint  broad 
bands  of  light  paint.  The  surface  of  the  dipper  is  smooth,  and 
bears  every  appearance  of  having  been  well  polished. 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


6  3 


A  decorated  dipper  (plate  II,  6)  was  found  at  the  head  of 
skeleton  No.  5301,  in  the  plaza  near  the  southeastern  excavation. 
Its  inside  is  ornamented,  the  outside  is  plain.  The  decoration 
consists  of  squares,  or  of  diagonals  formed  of  lines  in  squares, 
each  line  ending  in  the  well-known  terrace  pattern.  The  handle 
is  broken,  and  portions  of  the  rim  are  absent.  On  the  inner  rim 
there  is  a  light-colored  line,  which  is  duplicated  at  the  junction 
of  the  sides  and  the  bottom.  The  color  of  this  specimen  is  dark 
brown. 

A  finely  decorated  red-ware  dipper  of  medium  size  (No. 
5316,  plate  II,  1)  was  found  with  a  skeleton  in  the  southeastern 
excavation. 

A  small,  decorated,  handled,  red-ware  ladle  (No.  5322, 
plate  II,  10)  was  found,  with  No.  5323,  at  head  of  skeleton  No. 
5321.  The  decorations  are  in  black,  and  take  the  form  of  trans¬ 
verse  bars  and  right-angle  triangles.  The  decoration  of  the 
handle  of  this  ladle  is  more  elaborate  than  that  of  many  others 
from  Heshotauthla.  As  a  rule,  as  seen  in  specimens  Nos.  5349a 
(plate  II,  9),  5456  (plate  II,  5),  and  5466a  (plate  II,  14),  the 
ladle  handles  are  crossed  by  parallel  and  longitudinal  black 
bars,  arranged  in  twos  or  threes  according  to  the  design.  In 
this  dipper,  however,  we  have  an  association  of  these  longitudinal 
and  transverse  bars  in  geometrical  patterns,  to  which  are  added 
step-like  decorations,  thus  making  a  compound  figure  similar 
to  that  occurring  on  the  outside  of  other  bowls. 

A  medium-sized,  slightly  decorated,  light-ware  ladle  (No. 
5323)  was  found,  with  Nos.  5324,  5325,  and  5322,  at  the  head 
of  a  child’s  skeleton  (No.  5321),  in  the  southeastern  excavation. 


64  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  two  ladle  bowls  shown  in  plate  II,  3,  1 1,  are  of  red-ware 
without  decoration  on  the  outer  surface,  but  with  triangular 
designs  and  parallel  lines  on  the  interior. 

Plate  II,  10  (No.  5322),  shows  a  fine,  large,  elaborately 
decorated  ladle,  found,  with  Nos.  5321,  5322,  and  5323,  in  the 
plaza  of  the  southeastern  excavation.  The  skeleton  with  which 
it  was  found  was  that  of  a  child,  buried  with  the  head  toward 
the  south.  In  addition  to  the  drinking-cup,  or  ladle,  and  the 
eating-bowl,  there  were  uncovered  lower  down  in  the  grave  a 
number  of  bird  (turkey?)  skeletons.  This  ladle  is  ornamented 
with  elaborate  designs;  its  handle  has  a  zigzag  black  band 
continuous  with  a  terrace  ornamentation.  The  tip  of  the  handle 
is  so  bent  as  to  form  an  opening.  The  interior  of  the  bowl  is 
decorated  with  diagonal,  parallel  black  lines  which  fill  the 
spaces  between  the  four  shaded  areas,  each  one  of  which  is 
occupied  by  a  design  consisting  of  a  square  crossed  by  three 
diagonal  parallel  lines.  In  the  angle  of  each  square  there  is 
represented  a  bird,  so  drawn  that  the  heads  of  all  four  point 
in  the  same  direction.  In  these  bird-like  designs  occur  repre¬ 
sentations  of  head,  neck,  body,  and  three  darker  lines  for  a  tail. 
The  handle  of  this  ladle  is  hollow,  and  contains  a  stone  tinkler. 
It  has  two  small  openings  on  the  upper  surface.  The  tip  of 
the  bowl  is  crossed  by  three  or  four  bands  arranged  in  groups 
as  in  some  other  bowls. 

Plate  V,  2,  represents  a  red  food-bowl  elaborately  decorated 
on  the  interior  surface  with  black  designs  and  having  on  the 
exterior  a  series  of  N-shape  figures. 

The  large  red-ware  eating-bowl  (No.  4329a)  has  the 
interior  colored  black,  and  the  outside  decorated  with  sym- 


Pueblo  R.uin s 


Plate  III. 


B  Meisel.Iith.Boaton 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


65 


bolic  (  ?  )  figures  in  white.  It  was  found  with  a  smaller  bowl 
(No.  5329b)  at  the  head  of  skeleton  No.  5329.  The  decora¬ 
tion  on  the  outside  of  this  bowl  shows  beautiful  spiral  forms 
combined  with  the  parallel  lines,  a  unique  pattern  of  this  type. 
The  spiral  is  believed  by  some  ethnologists  to  represent  the  whirl- 
win,  and  if  the  parallel  lines  represent  rain,  —  as  supposed  by 
some  students,  and  as  seems  to  be  accepted  by  some  Pueblo  peo¬ 
ple,  —  we  have  here  a  good  example  of  wind  symbols  accom¬ 
panied  with  a  representation  of  rain  falling  from  the  clouds. 

Mr  Stevenson  illustrates  (fig.  686)  an  ancient  bowl  from  the 
Canyon  de  Chelly  with  three  rows  of  knobs  on  the  exterior  of  the 
bowl.  There  seems  to  be  evidence  that  this  feature  is  an  ancient 
one,  and  not  unknown  in  modern  Pueblo  pottery.  The  same 
author  figures  a  pitcher-shaped  vessel,  which  he  describes  as  a 
“teapot  of  red  micaceous  ware,  with  handle,  a  row  of  projecting 
points  around  the  middle,  one-half  of  these  (those  on  one  side) 
having  the  tips  notched.  There  is  a  triangular  spout  in  front, 
the  opening  through  it  being  through  numerous  small  round 
holes  forming  a  strainer.”  His  description  of  this  vessel  would 
seem  to  refer  it  to  modern  patterns,  and  his  figure  is  highly  sug¬ 
gestive  in  this  particular.  But  the  custom  of  decorating  ancient 
bowls  with  raised  figures,  scrolls,  animals,  and  other  figures  in 
relief,  is  an  ancient  one  in  some  areas,  but  extremely  rare  in 
northern  Arizona.  In  some  modern  pueblos  we  see  this  carried 
to  an  extreme,  as  in  the  canteens  decorated  with  frogs  and  other 
devices,  sold  by  the  Rio  Grande  and  other  Pueblos. 

A  small  cup  (No.  5330a)  made  of  rough  paste,  undeco¬ 
rated,  was  found  with  an  adult  skeleton  (No.  5330).  This 
cup  is  singular  in  having  a  circular  sculptured  or  knobbed 


66 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


base.  There  are  several  small  cups  in  the  collection,  the  form 
of  which  is  similar  to  this,  but  none  of  these  has  the  same  form 
of  base.  The  vessel  was  found  in  the  plaza  in  the  southeastern 
excavation. 

The  fragments  of  a  corrugated  vase  (No.  5342)  show  on 
the  periphery  relief  decorations  ending  in  scrolls.  This  method 
of  decorating  coiled  ware  was  practised  also  by  cliff-dwellers.  1 
Although  the  whole  of  this  vase  was  not  found,  the  sherds 
recovered  show  that  this  style  of  ornament  is  probably  ancient 
in  the  Zuni  valley.  One  of  the  fragments  exhibits  a  double,  the 
other  a  single  scroll. 

A  small  red-ware  vessel  (No.  5347;  plate  III,  2)  has  a  con¬ 
tracted  rim,  in  the  upper  periphery  of  which  there  are  four 
perforations  for  suspension  by  a  cord.  It  was  found  in  the 
central  excavation. 

Plate  III,  10  (No.  5348),  represents  a  trilobed  paint-pot  or 
salt  receptacle. 

A  medium-sized,  long-handled,  decorated  ladle  of  yellow- 
ware  (No.  5340a)  was  found,  with  No.  5349  b,  c,  at  the  skull  of 
No.  5349.  This  object  was  decorated  with  uniform  black  ter¬ 
races  and  bar  designs. 

No.  53 57  (plate  I,  2)  is  a  handle  of  a  ladle  in  the  form  of  a 
dog  (?)  5  this  specimen  was  found  in  the  central  excavation.  It 
is  a  remarkable  form  of  handle,  and  is  the  only  one  in  the  collec¬ 
tion  that  bears  this  modification.  Possibly  in  the  specimen  with  a 
pair  of  projections  at  the  extremity  we  may  recognize  a  conven¬ 
tionalized  animal  form,  but  the  resemblance  is  distant.  In  the 

1  Specimens  similar  to  this  are  figured  by  Nordenskiold  from  the  cliff-dwellings  of 
the  Mesa  Verde,  Colorado. 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


6  7 


case  of  the  specimen  shown  in  plate  I,  4,  however,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  here  is  the  representation  of  some  animal,  since  it  has 
projections  which  occupy  the  positions  of  the  forelegs,  the  ears, 
and  the  snout.  The  ladle  is  colored  red  both  inside  and  outside, 
and  faint  indications  of  decoration  in  black  occur  on  the  inside. 

A  large  light-ware  ladle  (No.  5361 ;  plate  II,  15)  was  found 
at  the  head  of  a  fragmentary  skeleton  of  a  child,  with  vessels 
No.  5362  and  No.  5363  (plate  III,  n).  Although  the  handle  is 
broken,  it  shows  that  its  end  originally  had  the  form  of  a  loop. 
This  vessel  is  decorated  on  the  inside  with  an  open  diamond 
pattern  painted  black,  with  a  figure  of  a  bird’s  foot  within  its 
borders.  The  figures  of  four  arrows  in  the  middle  of  the  bowl 
of  this  ladle  are  arranged  in  pairs,  two  of  them  pointing  one  way 
and  two  in  an  opposite  direction.  The  former  are  accompanied 
with  dots,  the  one  at  the  end  of  the  shaft,  the  other  near  the  lateral 
inner  barb.  The  other  two  arrows  are  without  dots.  A  fifth 
figure  is  so  obscure  that  it  is  difficult  to  decipher.  On  the  side  of 
certain  “medicine-pots,”  from  Halona,  we  have  a  similar  arrow¬ 
like  decoration  of  unknown  meaning.  The  arrangement  of  the 
diagonals  and  upright  lines  shown  in  the  figure  is  in  fives,  alter¬ 
nating  with  one  another. 

Plate  III,  9,  is  a  fragment  of  a  vase  with  a  disc-like  knob 
on  one  side  of  the  neck. 

A  light-ware  eating-bowl  (plate  V,  6),  although  fragmen¬ 
tary,  is  complete.  This  specimen  was  found,  with  Nos.  3361 
and  5368,  at  the  head  of  a  few  bones  of  the  skeleton  of  a  child. 
It  is  decorated  on  the  inside  with  black  ornamentation,  and  was 
discovered  in  the  eastern  excavation. 


68 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Plate  III,  II  (No.  5365),  is  a  light-red  vase  found  at  the 
head  of  a  skeleton  of  a  child,  with  Nos.  5361  and  5362.  It  is 
decorated  on  the  outside  in  brilliant  black,  the  figure  being  scal¬ 
loped  with  open,  diamond  design.  It  was  found  in  the  eastern 
excavation. 

Plate  ill,  12,  represents  a  globular  vase  of  yellow-ware  dec¬ 
orated  with  brown  figures. 

A  small,  long,  and  round  stone  toy  (No.  5465a)  was  found 
in  the  western  excavation  with  portions  of  the  skeleton  of  a  child. 

A  small  plain  vase  (No.  5480a;  plate  III,  3)  has  a  rim  per¬ 
forated  for  suspension.  It  was  found,  with  No.  5380,  and  the 
broken  cup,  No.  5380b,  in  the  western  excavation. 

A  large  red-ware  eating-bowl,  plate  v,  8  (No.  5383a),  is 
decorated  on  the  inside  in  black  and  on  the  outside  in  white 
geometrical  figures.  It  is  mortuary  in  character,  having  been 
found  at  the  head  of  skeleton  No.  5383,  in  the  western  excava¬ 
tion. 

A  large  fragmentary  red-ware  eating-bowl,  plate  III,  1  (No. 
5389a),  has  black  figures  on  the  inner  surface.  Together  with 
a  bowl  and  a  cup  (No.  5398b,  c),  it  accompanied  a  skeleton 
(No.  5389). 

No.  5398b  is  a  large,  irregularly  oval  bowl,  with  straight 
neck,  the  sides  of  which  incline  slightly  inward.  The  ground- 
color  is  brick-red,  which  however  is  unequally  burnt  in  places 
on  the  sides.  The  decoration  of  the  neck  of  this  vessel  consists 
of  zigzag  black  lines  or  bands  running  irregularly  about  it, 
accompanied  by  compound  step-like  figures  and  elongated  bands. 
The  most  interesting  and  exceptional  feature  in  its  ornamenta¬ 
tion  is  the  introduction  on  the  outer  surface  of  three  triangular 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


69 


figures  in  black  and  yellow.  These  triangular  figures  are  out¬ 
lined  with  black  bands  placed  at  regular  intervals,  with  one  of 
the  angles  pointing  toward  the  base.  The  external  rim  of  the 
two  sides  is  bordered  with  black  dots  or  indentations,  which 
are  confined  to  two  sides  of  the  triangle.  From  the  upper  side 
there  rise  two  hook-like  projections  with  crooks  turned  outward. 
These  projections,  like  the  triangles,  are  painted  black,  edged 
with  yellow.  The  external  boundary  of  the  triangle  is  parallel 
with  that  of  a  second  triangle,  somewhat  smaller;  the  intermedi¬ 
ate  zone  is  colored  yellow,  and  spotted  with  black  dots  of  irregu¬ 
lar  size,  more  or  less  unevenly  distributed.  The  interior  of  the 
figure  is  occupied  by  a  small  triangle  filled  with  black  bands. 
This  triangle  is  separated  from  the  one  last  mentioned  by  a 
broad  band  of  yellow,  without  spots.  The  adjoining  angles  of 
the  ornamentation  found  on  the  outside  of  the  bowl  are  a  little 
more  than  an  inch  apart.  These  figures  are  slightly  irregular. 
The  pot  was  discolored  in  firing. 

A  large  ladle,  plate  II,  13  (No.  5389c),  has  a  broken  handle, 
which  was  probably  hollow.  Its  outer  surface  is  without  deco¬ 
ration,  and  its  color  is  a  uniform  brown.  The  interior  is  deco¬ 
rated  with  diagonal  lines  painted  on  a  black  ground,  accom¬ 
panied  with  rows  of  squares  containing  black  dots.  The  vessel 
has  encircling  lines  near  the  base  and  rim. 

No.  5390a  is  a  fragmentary  red-ware  eating-bowl  deco¬ 
rated  in  black.  It  was  with  skeleton  No.  5390. 

A  fragmentary,  decorated,  white-ware  eating-bowl  (No. 
5395b)  was  found  with  skeleton  No.  5395,  and  with  specimens 
No.  5395a,  c. 


70 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Plate  III,  7  (No.  5409a),  is  a  mug  with  a  handle.  Its  rim 
is  slightly  turned  outward,  but  there  is  no  ornamentation  on  the 
body  or  the  handle.  The  neck  is  small  and  quite  narrow.  Its 
color  is  dark,  almost  black. 

A  decorated  eating-bowl,  plate  IV,  8  (No.  5412a),  contain¬ 
ing  corncobs  and  remains  of  textile  fabrics,  accompanied  No. 
5412b  and  skeleton  No.  5412,  in  the  western  excavation. 

No.  5414b  is  a  small  red-ware  eating-bowl  found  with  cup 
No.  5414a.  It  is  painted  white  on  the  outtside,  and  black  on 
the  inside. 

There  is  also  in  the  collection  a  shallow,  undecorated  stone 
saucer,  half  an  inch  high  and  four  inches  in  diameter,  with  a 
depression  of  about  one-fourth  of  an  inch  in  the  middle.  The 
surface  of  the  saucer  (No.  5415a)  is  very  smooth,  and  its  form 
regular.  This  vessel  was  found  at  the  side  of  an  adult  skeleton 
(No.  5415),  the  head  of  which  lay  toward  the  southeast.  Both 
skeleton  and  saucer  were  found  in  the  western  excavation. 

A  small  food-bowl  (No.  5435a),  ornamented  on  both 
exterior  and  interior,  is  open-mouthed,  and  light  brown  to 
white  in  color.  The  ware  is  very  evenly  fired,  and  the  bowl 
is  entire,  with  the  exception  of  a  large  break  on  one  side.  Its 
exterior  decoration  consists  of  horizontal  and  vertical  lines  alter¬ 
nating  in  threes.  There  are  six  series  of  horizontal  and  six 
series  of  vertical  black  bands.  Around  the  rim  of  the  bowl 
there  are  eight  sets  of  markings,  seven  of  which  have  six  marks 
and  one  has  seven,  the  seventh  being  obscure.  The  interior 
decoration  is  crossed  by  zigzag  lines  with  broad  bands  and  small 
parallel  markings.  The  broad  black  band  on  the  inner  side  of 
the  lip  narrows  at  one  point  into  a  thread-like  line.  The  figures 


Plate  IV 


Pueblo  ruins. 


Isa  M.MagiJl.pxl. 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


•A.  •  V—  . 

.  . 

-  •:  '■ 

•  -  -  v  .  y  : 


:  •  '  / 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


7i 


on  the  interior  are  in  black  on  a  light-gray  to  white  background. 
The  diameter  of  this  bowl  is  a  little  more  than  seven  inches,  the 
height  about  three  inches. 

No.  5440  is  a  fragmentary,  decorated,  light-ware  drinking- 
cup  found  in  the  western  central  excavation,  at  the  head  of  the 
much  decayed  skeleton  of  a  child. 

The  food-bowl  shown  in  plate  IV,  6  (No.  5453),  has  a  char¬ 
acteristic  decoration  on  the  interior  surface. 

The  medium-sized  jar  (No.  3460)  shown  in  plate  III,  4, 
has  the  rim  slightly  broken.  Its  color  is  orange -yellow  with  black 
decoration.  The  vessel  is  girt  by  a  broad,  continuous  line  edged 
with  black,  and  the  neck  has  alternating  black  and  yellow  bands. 
The  zones  above  and  below  the  central  band  are  crossed  by 
zigzag  lines,  and  bands  formed  of  numerous  small  parallel  lines. 

A  platter  (No.  3456a;  plate  V,  5)  is  of  brick-red  color,  and 
is  ornamented  both  inside  and  outside.  The  rim  is  notched  at 
one  point.  The  outside  ornamentation  consists  of  white  lines 
forming  a  double  triangular  pattern;  the  inside  is  decorated 
with  black  zigzag  lines  of  varying  width,  on  a  deep-red  ground. 

Plate  II,  5  (No.  5456b) ,  is  a  small  ladle  of  light-brown  color, 
ornamented  with  dark-brown  lines,  and  with  terraced  figures 
that  may  represent  clouds.  Its  handle  is  small  and  slender,  and 
is  turned  up  in  a  pointed  tip  at  the  end.  On  the  upper  surface 
of  the  handle  are  six  bands,  four  of  which  are  parallel,  and  par¬ 
tially  encircle  the  handle,  while  the  remaining  two  extend  longi¬ 
tudinally.  The  outside  of  the  bowl  is  not  ornamented,  but  its 
interior  is  decorated  with  encircling  bands  which  alternate  with 
stepped  figures.  The  external  surface  is  more  or  less  discolored 
by  firing. 


72 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


A  flat  bowl  or  platter,  plate  V,  4  (No.  5465),  ornamented 
inside  and  outside,  has  the  rim  slightly  nicked.  The  decoration 
consists  of  several  encircling  lines  arranged  in  two  series  on  the 
inside.  Four  of  these  bands  are  found  on  the  upper  margin, 
and  three  on  the  lower,  and  between  them  there  is  a  green  zone 
in  which  occurs  an  elongated  zigzag  ornamentation.  The  out¬ 
side  of  the  specimen  is  decorated  in  zigzag  white  bands. 

Plate  II,  14  (No.  5466a),  is  a  small  white  ladle  the  handle 
of  which  is  decorated  with  black  bars.  Six  of  these  bars  are 
placed  transversely,  and  three  longitudinally.  The  interior  of 
the  bowl  is  decorated  in  black  zigzag  lines  accompanied  with 
black  encircling  bands  above  and  below.  None  of  the  encircling 
bands  is  broken  by  a  “line  of  life.”  There  is  a  loop  in  the  end 
of  the  handle  of  the  ladle. 

A  small,  well  made  ladle,  light-brown  to  white  in  color, 
has  a  loop  at  the  end  of  the  handle,  which  is  crossed  by  nine  broad 
black  bands  arranged  in  threes,  two  of  which  are  parallel,  the 
others  placed  longitudinally.  The  outside  of  the  ladle  is  plain; 
the  inside  has  a  white  base  with  dark  brown  or  black  encircling 
zigzag  lines. 

Plate  IV,  2  (No.  5468),  shows  a  small  platter  of  light  color, 
with  external  undecorated  walls.  On  its  inner  surface  occur 
black  lines  connected  with  parallel  lines  and  disconnected  bars. 
The  former  are  black  on  a  light  ground,  the  latter  light  on  black. 

Two  beautifully  decorated  food-bowls  are  shown  in  plate 
IV,  1,  3.  The  latter  is  characteristic  of  the  bowls  from  the  Little 
Colorado  valley. 

No.  5469  is  a  large  ladle  having  a  broken  handle  which  has 
been  repaired.  This  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  ladles  in  the 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


73 


collection,  as  the  interior  decoration  combines  straight-line 
figures  with  figures  composed  of  spiral  lines.  The  ware  is  thin, 
and  the  form  of  the  vessel  symmetrical,  although  its  handle  is 
somewhat  bulky.  The  decoration  on  the  stump  of  the  handle  is 
obscure,  but  it  seems  to  consist  of  alternating  black  and  white 
bands.  The  pattern  on  the  inside  of  the  bowl  consists  of  trans¬ 
verse  notched  bars  alternating  with  a  rude  spiral  of  one  or  two 
whorls.  In  places  the  outline  of  the  figure  is  difficult  to  trace, 
as  the  inner  surface  is  more  or  less  broken  and  its  margin  de¬ 
stroyed.  The  diameter  of  the  bowl  of  the  ladle  is  five  inches. 

A  fragment  of  a  ladle,  plate  II,  2  (No.  5473),  consists  of  a 
bowl  with  a  broken  handle.  The  inside  is  decorated  with  cross¬ 
bars,  step-like  figures,  and  zigzags.  The  bowl  has  a  brown  base 
ornamented  with  black. 

No.  5481  (plate  III,  1 )  is  a  vase  of  medium  size  with  slightly 
notched  rim.  The  body  has  an  elaborate  external  decoration 
drawn  on  a  black  background,  and  the  neck  is  painted  light 
brown.  An  interesting  feature  of  this  jar  is  a  black  line  girting 
the  neck,  enlarged  at  one  end.  On  each  side  throughout  its 
entire  length  there  are  small  lateral  bars  opposite  each  other. 
The  extremity  of  this  band  opposite  the  bulb  is  trifid.  On  the 
inner  rim  there  are  two  black  continuous  lines,  and  a  single 
broad  black  band  surrounds  the  neck.  The  decoration  of  the 
larger  part  of  the  jar  is  colored  white,  and  consists  of  zigzag 
lines  with  terraces.  The  same  trifid  termination  or  extremity 
of  the  figure  about  the  neck  of  this  jar  can  be  seen  on  the  figure 
upon  the  double-handled  ladle  in  the  collection. 

In  a  remarkable  dipper  from  Halona  there  is  a  groove  on 
the  upper  side  of  the  handle  in  which  is  painted  a  figure  that 


74 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


exactly  resembles  that  around  the  neck  of  the  jar  shown  in  plate 
III,  i.  The  head  of  this  figure  faces  the  bowl  of  the  dipper,  and 
its  lateral  appendages  are  painted  white;  the  whole  is  of  bright- 
red  color.  It  strongly  recalls  that  of  a  centipede  or  myriapod, 
with  bilateral  appendages  frequently  repeated.  The  broad  black 
line  in  this  specimen  is  continuous  throughout,  but  at  one  point 
there  is  a  small  transverse  line.  The  two  black  lines  on  the 
mouth  of  the  vessel  are  continuous,  so  far  as  can  be  observed, 
although  a  section  of  the  rim  is  broken.  The  entire  dipper  is 
very  smooth.  It  is  colored  almost  white  on  the  inside.  The 
fine  design  on  the  body  is  repeated  four  times. 

No.  5442  (plate  II,  4)  shows  a  ladle  with  a  broken  handle 
attached  to  a  square  and  flat  bowl.  Its  color  is  brown.  The 
exterior  surface  is  not  ornamented;  but  it  is  decorated  inside 
with  rude  zigzag  lines,  and  the  surface  is  slightly  discolored 
near  the  handles.  The  color  of  the  inside  is  light-gray,  almost 
white. 

MISCELLANEOUS  OBJECTS 

Bone  Implements. — The  collection  of  bone  implements 
(plate  I,  9-23)  found  at  Heshotauthla  is  quite  large,  and  presents 
a  variety  of  forms.  The  leg-bones  of  the  deer  and  the  turkey 
seem  to  have  been  most  commonly  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
these  implements,  though  bones  from  other  parts  of  these  and 
other  animals  are  not  wanting.  The  antler  of  the  deer  was  also 
employed.  These  bone  and  horn  objects  range  in  form  from 
sharp-pointed  awls  (figs.  10-12)  to  flat,  chisel-like  gouges  (figs. 
13,  17).  As  a  rule  they  are  smoothly  polished,  showing  evi¬ 
dence  of  long  use,  and  sometimes  are  decorated  with  incised  lines. 


Pueblo  Ruins 


Plate  V. 


NfissM.  Matpll.pxL 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


B.MeiseUitli.Boston. 


* 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


75 

Of  the  awls,  the  most  common  form  (fig.  15)  is  sharply 
pointed  at  the  tip  and  of  uniform  size.  Although  not  ordinarily 
perforated  at  the  end,  in  very  rare  cases  they  have  a  hole  at  the 
blunt  extremity  (fig.  12).  A  stouter  form  of  awl  or  bodkin 
was  made  from  the  tibia  of  the  turkey,  sharpened  at  one  end,  and 
retaining  at  the  other  the  natural  condyles  of  the  bone  for  a 
handle  (fig.  15).  There  are  several  specimens  made  from  split 
bones  of  the  deer  (figs.  24,  25).  Two  or  three  forked-shaped 
implements  (fig.  21),  made  from  the  tibia  of  the  turkey,  occur 
in  the  collection,  the  three  condyles  at  the  end  of  the  bone  serving 
for  the  handle.  There  may  also  be  mentioned  flat  split  bones, 
not  unlike  wooden  combs. 

Figure  12  of  this  plate  represents  a  finely  finished  tapering 
implement  made  of  bone  from  a  deer’s  leg.  It  is  perforated 
transversely  at  the  ball  of  the  joint,  for  suspension.  Similar  ob¬ 
jects  have  been  found  in  cliff-houses  and  in  ruins  in  the  Chaco 
Canyon  region. 

A  well-wrought  scraper  or  gouge,  made  from  the  tibia  of 
the  deer,  has  its  end  flatly  beveled  and  its  axis  rounded.1  These 
implements  (figs.  13,  17)  are  superficially  incised  with  geomet¬ 
rical  markings.  A  fragment  of  a  tibia  of  a  deer  (fig.  18),  also 
incised,  occurs  in  the  collection.  There  are  also  several  bone 
implements,  very  much  worn,  especially  on  the  edges,  made 
from  the  scapulae  of  deer.  An  exceptional  form  of  bone  imple¬ 
ment  (fig.  16)  is  fashioned  from  the  tarsus  of  a  deer,  the  condyles 
of  which  are  flattened  on  opposite  sides,  and  perforated.  This 
object  has  a  deep  groove  on  one  side,  extending  from  the  con¬ 
dyles  to  the  tip. 


1  Similar  scrapers  are  found  in  cliff-houses  and  other  ruins  in  Colorado. 


76  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Among  the  more  remarkable  forms  of  bone  objects  are  those 
resembling  whistles,  made  of  joints  of  the  leg-bones  of  the 
turkey  (figs.  22,  23).  These  tubes  have  a  highly  polished 
external  surface. 

A  single  lower  jaw  of  a  small  mammal,  in  which  the  sockets 
for  the  teeth  are  present,  although  the  teeth  are  missing,  is  with¬ 
out  a  duplicate  in  the  collection.  This  fragment  is  perforated 
at  its  broadest  part,  as  if  for  suspension,  and  may  have  been  used 
as  an  amulet. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  bone  objects  is  a  unique  carved 
ornament  of  bone  (fig.  24) ,  certainly  the  most  successful  example 
of  bone  carving  in  the  entire  collection.  It  resembles  a  human 
effigy,  extensions  below  the  head  suggesting  arms  and  legs. 
This  and  the  similar  object  shown  in  figure  26  are  probably 
fetishes.  There  are  several  split  fragments  of  bones  (fig.  25), 
roughly  rectangular  in  shape,  generally  made  from  the  ribs  of 
deer.  Their  surfaces  are  usually  smooth,  and  they  are  generally 
more  or  less  broken  at  the  extremities. 

Pipe.  —  Among  the  prehistoric  specimens  obtained  from 
Heshotauthla,  there  is  one  which  bears  evidence  of  great  anti¬ 
quity.  This  is  the  only  pipe  found  in  the  collection.  It  is  made 
of  burnt  clay,  in  which  occur  white  particles  that  have  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  finely  ground  fragments  of  older  pottery.  Its  bowl 
is  more  or  less  broken  on  one  side,  but  about  half  the  rim  re¬ 
mains.  The  stem  is  short,  with  a  prominent  keel  on  the  front 
of  the  bowl,  which  is  much  mutilated  on  one  side.  Its  interior 
surface  shows  marks  of  fire.  The  perforation  of  the  stem,  which 
enters  the  bowl  on  one  side,  is  not  larger  than  that  of  an  ordinary 
tobacco-pipe.  It  has  been  supposed,  from  the  general  shape  and 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


77 


blackened  interior  of  the  bowl,  that  this  pipe  was  used  for  smok¬ 
ing,  but  the  stem  exhibits  no  marks  of  use.  This  was  evidently 
a  ceremonial  pipe,  as  the  modern  Zuni  commonly  employ  ciga¬ 
rettes  made  of  corn-husks  in  their  secular  smoking.1 

Lignite  Gorget  and  Tablets.  —  A  beautiful  specimen  of  jet 
or  lignite  is  convex  on  one  side  and  flat  on  the  other.  This 
specimen  is  semicircular  in  form,  and  shows  a  perforation  on 
the  rough  side.  Its  diameter  is  an  inch  and  a  half.  The  convex 
side  is  highly  polished;  the  flat  side  is  smooth. 

Among  other  objects  regarded  as  ornaments  there  are  sev¬ 
eral  specimens  made  of  lignite  or  jet  (plate  I,  6,  30).  These 
ornaments  have  in  some  instances  an  eye  in  the  flat  or  non- 
lustrous  side,  but  in  the  case  of  the  cube  (fig.  6)  it  is  simply 
perforated. 

Figures  28  and  29  represent  stone  objects  of  unknown  use. 

The  finely  polished  tablet  (No.  5242;  plate  I,  30)  is  of 
lignite,  and  was  found  with  a  skeleton. 

The  collection  contains  a  square,  flat  lignite  tablet,  two 
inches  wide,  with  very  smooth  surface  on  one  side,  rough  and 
irregular  on  the  other.  A  perforation  on  the  rough  side  of  the 
tablet  serves  for  suspension.  This  tablet  was  found  with  a  skel¬ 
eton  and  a  finely  finished  awl. 

There  is  another  flat  lignite  tablet  (fig.  1 )  more  finely  made 
than  the  last.  Its  smooth  surface  is  very  much  crackled,  and 
somewhat  broken,  but  is  finely  carved  and  smoothly  polished. 
The  side  upon  which  the  perforation  occurs  is  formed  of  four 
flat  triangular  faces  bounded  by  four  diagonal  ridges. 

1  The  author  found  a  similar  pipe  on  the  surface  of  the  ground  at  one  of  the  two 
ruins  on  Inscription  Rock,  east  of  Heshotauthla,  and  excavated  several  from  mounds  at 
Homolobi  and  Chevlon,  near  Winslow,  Arizona. 


78  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Another  beautiful  fragment  of  lignite,  smooth  on  one  side 
and  rough  on  the  other,  occurs  in  the  collection.  With  it  was 
a  large  fragment  of  the  same  material  that  has  never  been 
worked. 

From  their  color,  and  more  especially  their  high  polish, 
there  is  little  doubt  that  these  lignite  tablets  were  used  as  personal 
ornaments. 

Figure  31  is  an  arrow-shaft  smoother  of  conventional  form, 
and  figures  32-36  are  beads  and  pendants. 

Haliotis  Shell.  —  That  the  inhabitants  of  Heshotauthla 
knew  and  prized  the  well-known  haliotis  or  abalone  shell  is 
seen  from  a  fragment  of  one  of  these  mollusks  found  in  the  south¬ 
eastern  excavation.  This  fragment  consists  of  a  portion  of  a 
bracelet.  It  is  very  highly  polished,  and  does  not  differ  greatly 
from  those  found  in  the  neighborhood  of  Casa  Grande  and  in 
ruins  in  the  Salt  River  valley.  The  older  inhabitants  of  the 
Zuni  valley  greatly  prized  sea-shells,  as  is  shown  by  several 
ornaments  made  therefrom  found  at  Heshotauthla,  and  in  other 
ruins  of  this  region. 

Stone  Fetish.  —  In  the  collection  there  is  an  idol,  made  of 
gray  sandstone,  representing  a  human  being.  This  fetish  (plate 
I,  37)  was  found  at  the  head  of  the  skeleton  of  an  infant.  Its 
body  is  crossed  by  two  ridges  extending  diagonally  from  corner 
to  corner.  Face,  nose,  eyes,  and  mouth  are  represented.  When 
found,  the  figure  was  covered  with  red  pigment  over  which  were 
drawn  brownish  lines,  while  the  elevated  ridges  were  colored 
light  brown.  The  neck  is  only  slightly  contracted,  and  the  legs 
are  barely  indicated.  This  figurine  shows  evidences  of  black 
paint  on  the  back  of  the  head.  Down  the  middle  of  the  back, 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


79 


corresponding  with  the  vertebral  column,  there  extends  a  ridge 
slightly  raised  above  the  general  surface  of  the  body.  This 
specimen  was  found  in  the  northwestern  excavation. 

CONCLUSIONS 

When  the  reader  compares  the  preceding  descriptions  and 
accompanying  plates  of  prehistoric  pottery  and  other  objects 
with  those  of  modern  Zuni,  it  will  be  evident  that  the  resemblance 
in  the  decoration  or  texture  of  the  two  types  of  ceramics  is  not 
very  close,  while  the  symbolism  is  radically  different. 

The  prevailing  color  of  the  pottery  of  the  prehistoric  Zuni 
ruins  is  red  with  white  or  black  decoration,  while  that  of 
modern  Zuni  is  white  with  black  figures,  recalling  the  so-called 
black-and-white  ware  of  the  cliff-dwellers  of  the  Mesa  Verde, 
Canyon  de  Chelly,  and  Tularosa  valley  in  western  New  Mexico. 
The  decorations  on  the  two  are  radically  different,  the  figures 
on  the  modern  ware  being  more  complicated  than  those  on  the 
ancient.  In  the  former  more  variations  of  life  forms  or  animal 
and  plant  designs  are  introduced.  From  a  comparison  of  these 
two  types  the  student  is  led  to  believe  that  new  symbols  of  extra- 
cultural  origin  have  largely  replaced  the  ancient  in  the  decora¬ 
tion  of  modern  Zuni  pottery. 

This  conclusion  applies  not  only  to  figures  of  animals,  but 
also  to  geometrical  designs.  Thus  the  figure  of  the  butterfly 
shown  in  figure  i  and  on  plate  V,  5,  is  wholly  different  from  that 
of  the  same  insect  depicted  on  modern  Zuni  ware.  The  combina¬ 
tion  of  the  spiral  and  the  triangle  with  cross-hatching  or  parallel 
lines,  which  is  one  of  the  most  characteristic  symbols  of  modern 
Zuni  ware,  is  wholly  absent  as  a  decorative  motive  of  prehistoric 
pottery  from  the  Zuni  valley,  where  the  geometrical  lines,  instead 


8o 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


of  being  curved,  are  more  often  straight,  or  replaced  by  terraces, 
triangles,  and  like  geometric  figures. 

This  want  of  uniformity  between  prehistoric  and  modern 
Zuni  ware  is  repeatedly  paralleled  in  the  Pueblo  region.  In  the 
ceramics  of  the  Hopi  Indians,  for  instance,  a  radical  change  has 
taken  place.  The  modern  ware  is  very  different  in  texture  and 
symbolism  from  the  prehistoric.  The  same  is  true  of  prehistoric 
and  historic  ceramics  of  the  Rio  Grande  pueblos. 

If,  for  instance,  we  consider  the  pottery  from  the  ruins 
of  the  Hopi  pueblo  of  Sikyatki,  or  from  Awatobi  and  other 
Antelope  Valley  ruins,  we  find  the  dominant  color  to  be  yellow, 
with  decoration  in  brown,  black,  and  red.  They  show  no  sign  of 
a  superficial  slip  of  white.  The  decorations  of  this  Hopi  ware 
are  characteristic,  certain  symbols  being  found  here  that  do  not 
occur  elsewhere  in  the  Southwest. 

The  symbolism  of  prehistoric  Hopi  pottery  has  been  amply 
discussed  elsewhere.1  It  is  characteristic,  as  appears  in  col¬ 
lections  from  this  region  of  the  Southwest.  The  so-called  mod¬ 
ern  Hopi  ware  has  only  the  most  distant  relation,  either  in  color, 
texture,  or  symbolism,  with  that  of  ancient  Sikyatki,  the  type  of 
prehistoric  Hopi  ceramics.  Modern  Hopi  ceramics  are  not 
the  development  of  the  ancient  pottery,  nor  are  the  symbols  of 
one  derived  from  he  other.  Both  symbols  and  texture  were 
introduced  by  foreign  clans.  The  pottery  called  modern  Hopi 
is  made  by  Tanoan  potters,  and  it  consequently  has  Tanoan  sym¬ 
bols  introduced  into  Tusayan  in  recent  times.  This  is  evident, 
not  only  from  the  character  of  the  pottery,  which  itself  is  ample 
evidence,  but  from  tradition  and  language.  The  clans  of  the 


Seventeenth  Annual  Report,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  part  II,  1895. 


ANCIENT  ZUNI  POTTERY 


81 


present  potters,  like  Nampeo,  are  Tanoan.1  These  differences  in 
ancient  and  modern  pottery  emphasize  the  composite  character 
of  the  Hopi  people. 

A  similar  explanation  may  be  advanced  to  account  for  the 
differences  in  ancient  and  modern  Zuni  pottery,  except  that  the 
component  clans  of  the  Zuni  population  have  become  so  amal¬ 
gamated  that  the  foreign  introductions  have  lost  language  and 
identity.  The  majority  of  modern  Zuni  pottery  decorations  are 
from  foreign  sources,  and  this  introduction  has  profoundly 
changed  Zuni  ceramics. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  that,  while  the  modern  Zuni  pot¬ 
tery  differs  essentially  in  symbolism  from  that  of  the  Tewa  pue¬ 
blo  of  Hano  in  the  Hopi  region,  its  texture  and  color  have  more  in 
common  with  the  Tewa  ware  than  with  the  ancient  Zuni,  which 
would  imply  that  the  modern  Zuni  clans  that  introduced  pottery 
symbols  are  related  to  those  Tewa  who  settled  Hano.  Neither 
the  decoration  nor  the  texture  of  modern  Zuni  pottery  is  closely 
related  to  that  of  ruins  in  the  Gila  and  its  tributaries,  but  is  allied 
to  that  of  the  eastern  or  the  northeastern  part  of  the  Pueblo  area, 
where  older  modern  Hopi  ware  is  reputed  to  have  originated. 

A  comparison  of  the  prehistoric  pottery  of  the  Zuni  valley 
with  other  prehistoric  ceramics  in  the  Southwest  reveals  the  fact 
that  it  belongs  to  a  type  common  to  all  ruins  along  the  Little 
Colorado  as  far  down  as  Wukoki,  a  ruin  at  Black  Falls, 
Arizona,  where  the  resemblance  ceases.  This  identity  can  read¬ 
ily  be  seen  by  a  comparison  of  the  objects  figured  in  the  accom¬ 
panying  plates  and  those  from  Homolobi  and  the  Chevlon  Fork 
ruins  excavated  by  the  author  in  1896.  So  close  is  the  likeness 

1  Stimulated  by  commercialism,  Nampeo  now  decorates  her  pottery  not  with  the 
symbols  of  her  own  people  but  with  those  of  Sikyatki  and  other  ancient  Hopi  pueblos. 


82 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


that  there  is  no  necessity  for  making  a  special  ceramic  culture- 
area  for  the  prehistoric  Zuni. 1  Their  ancient  pottery  is  practic¬ 
ally  identical  with  that  of  the  Little  Colorado  and  some  of  its 
tributaries. 

The  teaching  of  this  radical  difference  in  the  symbolism  of 
prehistoric  and  modern  Zuni  pottery  confirms  legendary  evi¬ 
dence  of  the  dual  composition  of  the  tribe,  and  it  shows  that  the 
ancient  culture  of  the  Zuni  valley  was  almost  identical  with  that 
of  the  rest  of  the  Little  Colorado  drainage,  implying  that  the 
modern  Zuni  culture  contains  elements  due  to  acculturation 
from  the  north  and  northeast.  That  culture  which  it  shares  with 
other  Little  Colorado  pueblos  came  from  the  Gila  valley  in 
southern  Arizona. 

Bureau  of  American  Ethnology 
Washington,  D.  C. 


1  See  Twenty-second.  Annual  Report,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology ,  part  II,  1904. 


POTTERY  OF  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  INDIANS 


BY 

Charles  C.  Willoughby 

THERE  is  evidence  that  a  considerable  portion  of  at 
least  the  eastern  part  of  New  England,  in  ancient 
times,  was  occupied  by  a  non-pottery  making  people, 
no  pottery  having  been  found  in  numerous  graves  of 
a  certain  type  in  various  sections  of  Maine,  although  stone  imple¬ 
ments  were  abundant.  As  pottery  is  usually  common  in  the 
cemeteries  of  pottery-making  tribes,  its  absence  from  these 
burial-places  may  be  accepted  as  good  evidence  that  it  was  un¬ 
known  to  this  early  people. 

New  England  earthenware  may  be  divided  into  three  groups 
—  Archaic  Algonquian,  Later  Algonquian,  and  Iroquoian.  Data 
for  an  exhaustive  study  of  pottery  from  all  sections  of  this  region 
are  not  at  present  available.  The  above  classification  is  based 
upon  the  study  of  a  large  amount  of  material  from  Maine  and 
eastern  Massachusetts,  and  a  smaller  number  of  specimens  from 
other  sections. 

Whole  pottery  is  extremely  rare,  nearly  all  the  specimens 
thus  far  recovered  being  illustrated  in  this  paper.  Our  knowl¬ 
edge  of  New  England  earthenware  is  derived,  therefore,  largely 
from  fragments,  which  are  fairly  abundant  in  many  sections. 

Most  of  the  examples  figured,  not  otherwise  noted,  are  in  the 
Peabody  Museum  of  Harvard  University. 


84  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


ARCHAIC  ALGONQUIAN  POTTERY 

The  first  New  England  potters  were  probably  Algonquian. 
Their  earlier  ware  is  characterized  by  a  more  or  less  conoidal 
base,  the  lower  part  of  which  is  often  massive  (figs.  3-6).  A 
large  portion  of  the  surface  of  this  pottery  is  commonly  decorated 
with  indentations  made  with  natural  objects  of  simple  designs 
or  with  notched  sticks  or  other  implements.  Incised  decorations, 
either  alone  or  in  connection  with  indented  designs,  occur  less 
frequently.  There  is  often  an  outer  zone  near  the  rim  bearing 
a  special  design,  and  the  inner  side  of  the  rim  is  also  often 
decorated. 

A  very  common  design  consists  of  zigzag  indentations  made 
with  a  chisel-like  implement  having  a  notched  and  slightly 
curved  edge,  which  is  pressed  against  the  soft  clay  with  a  rocking 
motion,  each  opposite  corner  being  raised  and  slightly  advanced 
alternately,  the  tool  not  being  wholly  lifted  from  the  vessel 
(fig.  4) .  This  type  of  decoration  is  characteristic  of  much  of  the 
eastern  Algonquian  pottery,  but,  so  far  as  the  writer  is  aware,  is 
never  found  on  the  earthenware  of  the  Iroquois. 

Fig.  1  shows  rims  of  various  vessels  taken  from  the  shell- 
heaps  and  village-sites  of  Maine  and  Massachusetts.  Many  of 
the  designs  are  produced  by  pressing  the  notched  edges  of  thin 
tools  into  the  clay,  or  by  using  sticks  and  other  simple  implements. 
In  c  of  this  figure  the  design  may  have  been  produced  with  a  thin 
piece  of  wood  wrapped  with  cord  or  thong.  The  undulating 
lines  of  n  and  0  seem  to  have  been  made  with  the  scalloped  edge 
of  a  cockle-shell. 

The  inner  side  of  the  rim  of  0  is  ornamented  with  a  series 
of  round  holes,  an  inch  or  more  apart,  made  by  pressing  a  round 


POTTERY  OF  NEW  ENGLAND  INDIANS  85 

stick  or  similar  object  into  the  clay,  the  thumb  being  held  against 
the  outer  side  of  the  rim,  thus  forming  upon  the  outer  surface  a 
row  of  slightly  raised  projections,  one  of  which  is  shown  in  the 


m  n  0 

Fig.  1 — Fragments  of  pot  rims,  Archaic  Algonquian  Group,  from  shell-heaps  and 

village  sites  in  Maine. 


drawing.  The  inner  side  of  the  rim  is  also  decorated  with  the 
zigzag  pattern  above  referred  to.  Rims  that  are  scalloped,  or 
cut  into  points,  are  occasionally  found,  but  are  not  characteristic 


86 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


of  any  period,  as  they  occur  upon  the  oldest  pottery  as  well  as 
upon  historic  earthenware.  Cord-markings  are  comparatively 
rare.  The  capacity  of  these  cooking-vessels  ranged  approxi¬ 
mately  from  a  half-pint  to  three  gallons. 

Of  the  many  potsherds  examined  by  the  writer,  but  one  or 
two  show  evidences  that  the  vessel  was  constructed  by  coiling. 
It  is  very  probable,  however,  that  this  was  the  common  method 
followed. 


Fig.  2 — Potsherds  from  fourteen  feet  beneath  the  surface  of  Whaleback  oyster-shell 

heap,  Damariscotta,  Maine.  Archaic  Algo nquian  Group.  (One-third.) 

Probably  this  class  of  pottery  occurred  in  most  sections  of 
New  England.  It  is  especially  characteristic  of  the  village- 
sites  and  shell-heaps  of  the  tidewater  region  of  Maine  and  Massa¬ 
chusetts,  and  thorough  explorations  of  the  shell-heaps  of  Rhode 
Island  and  Connecticut  will  probably  show  it  in  equal  abun¬ 
dance.  As  a  type  it  occurs  southward  along  the  shorelands  as 
far  as  the  Algonquian  tribes  extended.  In  the  coast  region  of 
Maine,  where  the  tribes  came  least  in  contact  with  the  Iroquois, 
the  use  of  this  class  of  pottery  probably  prevailed  up  to  proto- 
historic  times. 


POTTERY  OF  NEW  ENGLAND  INDIANS  87 


Much  of  the  paste  used  by  the  New  England  Algonquians 
seems  to  have  been  somewhat  inferior  to  that  of  the  Iroquoian 
potters.  Either  the  clay  was  not  as  carefully  selected  or  their 
knowledge  of  preparing  it  was  deficient.  The  tempering  ma¬ 
terial  was  commonly  crushed  shell  or  crushed  stone,  often  very 
coarse.  There  is  every  evidence  that  this  pottery  is  of  consider¬ 
able  antiquity,  as  it  is  found  at  all  depths  in  the  numerous  shell- 
heaps  of  eastern  New  England.  These  heaps  have  been  more 
or  less  extensively  explored  by  Professor  Wyman,  Professor 
Putnam,  the  writer,  and  others  connected  with  the  Peabody 
Museum  of  Harvard  University;  Professor  Morse  of  the 
Peabody  Academy  of  Science  at  Salem;  Professor  Arlo  Bates 
of  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology ;  Frank  H.  Cushing 
of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology;  and  many  others. 
Potsherds  form  a  large  proportion  of  the  artifacts  secured  in 
these  explorations. 

The  largest  shell-heap  in  New  England  which  has  been 
systematically  explored  is  the  great  Whaleback  oyster-shell 
mound  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Damariscotta  river  in  Maine. 
This  was  approximately  three  hundred  feet  in  diameter,  the 
greatest  depth  of  shells  being  sixteen  feet.  It  is  but  one  of  a 
group  of  large  mounds  in  the  immediate  vicinity.  Hearing 
that  the  shells  were  to  be  ground  for  commercial  purposes, 
Professor  Putnam  purchased  for  the  Peabody  Museum  the  right 
to  all  artifacts  found.  A  reliable  man  was  employed  by  the 
Museum  to  watch  the  workmen  and  to  record  the  position  of 
the  specimens.  A  considerable  collection  of  sherds  of  the  class 
of  pottery  under  consideration  was  procured.  These  were  found 
scattered  throughout  the  heap  at  all  depths.  The  conclusions 


88 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Fig.  3 — Pottery  vessels  from  Maine  shell-heaps.  (Restored  from  fragments.)  Archaic 

Algonquian  Group. 


resulting  from  a  study  of  these  specimens  are  confirmed  in  gen¬ 
eral  by  other  less  thorough  explorations  throughout  the  tidewater 
regions  of  eastern  New  England. 

It  seems  that  the  art  of  pottery-making  was  not  indigenous 
to  these  states,  but  was  brought  to  this  region  at  a  period  nearly 
approaching  the  time  when  shell-fish  were  first  used  for  food 
along  our  coast.  Moreover,  but  little  if  any  advance  was  made 
in  this  art  during  the  long  period  necessary  for  the  accumula¬ 
tion  of  most  of  the  shell-heaps,  pottery  from  the  lower  layers 
showing  the  same  general  characteristics  in  composition  of  paste, 
in  form,  and  in  decoration,  as  that  from  the  upper  layers. 


POTTERY  OF  NEW  ENGLAND  INDIANS  89 


Fig.  2  shows  drawings  of  two  fragments  of  a  cooking-pot 
from  fourteen  feet  beneath  the  surface  of  the  Whaleback  mound 
above  noted.  The  decorations  consist  of  broad  vertical  bands  of 
incised  and  indented  ornamentation,  an  unusual  arrangement, 
seen,  so  far  as  the  writer’s  experience  goes,  only  in  very  old 
specimens.  Part  of  the  design  consists  of  the  zigzag  pattern  so 
characteristic  of  the  class  of  pottery  under  consideration. 

In  fig.  3,  /,  is  shown  a  restoration  from  fragments  of  another 
well-made  vessel  found  fourteen  feet  beneath  the  surface  of  this 
mound.  The  upper  exterior  decorated  zone  consists  of  indenta¬ 
tions  similar  to  those  on  fig.  2.  A  space  on  the  inner  side  of  the 
rim,  and  the  greater  portion  of  the  exterior  surface,  is  orna¬ 
mented  with  the  zigzag  pattern.  The  vessel  illustrated  in  fig.  3, 
b ,  is  restored  from  fragments  found  at  the  depth  of  six  feet  in  the 
above  mound,  and  the  two  pots  shown  in  figs.  4,  a ,  and  5,  were 


Fig.  4 — Pottery  vessels  from  Maine:  a ,  From  four  feet  below  surface  of  Whaleback 
shell-heap,  Damariscotta.  b,  From  grave  at  Waterville,  Kennebec  county. 
Archaic  Algonquian  Group.  (About  one-third.) 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


taken  from  different  sections  at  a  depth  of  about  four  feet.  The 
well-made  rim  (fig.  i,  m)  was  found  ten  feet  below  the  surface 
of  the  same  mound. 

The  vessel  shown  in  fig.  5  and  restored  in  fig.  3,  a,  has  an 
unusually  pointed  base.  Probably  none  of  the  earlier  New 
England  pottery  was  suspended  over  the  fire  by  means  of  cords 


Fig.  5 — Pottery  vessel  from  four  feet  below  surface  of  Whale- 
back  shell-heap,  Damariscotta,  Maine.  Archaic  Algon- 
quian  Group.  (One-third.) 

or  thongs.  Cobble-stones  were  doubtless  used  to  keep  the  vessel 
in  an  upright  position,  or  the  pointed  base  was  set  into  a  small 
heap  of  earth.  Stone  hearths  are  common  on  old  village-sites 
and  in  the  shell-heaps.  They  often  consist  of  a  few  stones  placed 
together  apparently  without  order.  The  better  hearths,  how¬ 
ever,  are  made  of  selected  stones  carefully  laid  in  the  form  of  a 


POTTERY  OF  NEW  ENGLAND  INDIANS  91 


disc  about  three  feet  in  diameter.  The  more  or  less  pointed 
bases  of  this  class  of  earthenware  are  well  adapted  for  fitting  into 
spaces  between  the  stones  or  of  being  set  into  the  earth. 

The  Virginia  Indians,  whose  earthenware  probably  re¬ 
sembled  that  of  New  England  in  general  form,  set  their  cooking- 
pots  upon  a  “heape  of  erthe  to  stay  them  for  falling,”  and  “putt 
wood  under  which  being  kyndled  one  of  them  taketh  great  care 
that  the  fyre  burn  equally  rounde  about.”  1 

After  much  of  the  later  New  England  pottery  had  become 
somewhat  modified  by  Iroquoian  influence,  the  bodies  of  the 


* 


Fig.  6 — Pottery  vessel  from  grave,  Revere,  Massachusetts. 

Archaic  Algonquian  Group.  (About  two-fifths.) 

vessels  became  rounder,  and  the  pots  were  sometimes  suspended 
over  the  fire  from  a  framework.  Very  few  vessels  of  the  earlier 
class  under  consideration  have  been  found  in  graves.  This  is 

1  Thomas  Hariot,  A  Brief  and  True  Report  of  the  Nemo  Found  Land  of  Virginia , 
Holbein  edition,  p.  xv. 


92 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


owing  in  a  measure  to  the  rapidity  with  which  skeletons  disinte¬ 
grate  and  disappear  in  the  shallow  Indian  graves  of  this  region. 
Instances  have  come  under  the  observation  of  the  writer  where 
the  skeletons  in  proto-historic  graves  in  which  European  objects 
were  found  have  become  so  disintegrated  that  not  a  bone 
retained  its  form;  nothing  in  fact  but  discolored  earth  and  an 
occasional  spot  of  white  lime-powder  remained  to  show  the 
former  presence  of  the  skeleton.  Burial  places  not  marked  by 


Fig.  7 — Pottery  vessel,  Canterbury,  New  Hampshire. 

Collection  of  Dr  H.  A.  Green.  Archaic  Algon- 
quian  Group.  (One-third.) 

the  presence  of  skeletons  are  not  easily  recognized  if  disturbed, 
and  pottery  and  other  objects  soon  become  broken  and  scattered. 

The  pot  shown  in  fig.  4  b ,  was  unearthed,  with  a  skeleton,  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  Kennebec  river  at  Waterville,  Maine;  and 
the  one  illustrated  in  fig.  6  was  also  found  with  a  skeleton  at 
Revere  Beach,  a  few  miles  north  of  Boston.  In  sections  most 
remote  from  Iroquoian  influence,  as  in  the  tidewater  regions  of 
Maine,  the  archaic  type  of  Algonquian  pottery  probably  con¬ 
tinued  well  into  proto-historic  times. 


POTTERY  OF  NEW  ENGLAND  INDIANS  93 


LATER  ALGONQUTAN  POTTERY 

In  this  group  is  included  much  of  the  pottery  used  in  western, 
central,  and  southern  New  England  during  later  prehistoric 
times  and  to  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Most  of 
the  examples  illustrated  were  taken  from  graves  of  the  proto- 
historic  or  early  historic  periods.  Sherds  of  this  class  are  not  as 
common  as  those  of  the  earlier  pottery  in  the  shell-heaps  of  east¬ 
ern  Massachusetts,  and  they  are  rare  in  Maine.  A  study  of  the 
sherds  from  central,  southern,  and  western  New  England,  indi- 


Fig.  8 — Pottery  vessels  of  the  Massachuset  Indians.  Taken  from  historic  burial-place 
at  Winthrop,  Massachusetts,  by  Professor  Putnam.  Later  Algonquian  Group. 
(About  one-third.) 


cates  a  transition  from  the  more  primitive  types  to  the  forms  illus¬ 
trated.  This  modification  is  due  largely  to  Iroquoian  influence. 
In  most  of  the  specimens  shown,  Iroquoian  characteristics  pre¬ 
dominate,  the  more  pronounced  of  which  are  the  globular  body, 
the  prominent  and  highly  decorated  rim,  and  a  narrow  decorated 
zone  on  the  body. 


94 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  Iroquoian  tribes,  more  especially  the  Mohawk,  were 
constantly  making  raids  into  this  territory,  even  attacking  vil¬ 
lages  of  eastern  Massachusetts.  At  one  period  they  claimed  the 
country  west  of  the  Connecticut.1  In  more  recent  times,  some 
of  the  villages  of  the  western  section  became  subject  to  the  Iro- 


Fig.  9 — Pottery  vessels  ot  the  Massachuset  Indians.  Taken  from  historic  burial-place 
at  Winthrop,  Massachusetts,  by  Professor  Putnam.  Later  Algonquian  Group. 
(One-half.) 


quoians,  “and  every  year  two  old  Mohawks  might  be  seen  going 
from  village  to  village  to  collect  tribute.”  2  Prolonged  inter¬ 
course  between  these  peoples  must  have  exerted  a  strong  influence 
on  the  arts  of  the  less  cultured  Algonquians. 

The  use  of  this  earthenware  continued  well  into  historic 
times.  Champlain  tells  us  that  when  the  Indians  of  eastern 
Massachusetts  prepare  corn  “they  boil  it  in  earthern  pots  which 
they  make  in  a  way  different  from  ours.”  3  Morton’s  description 
is  as  follows:  “They  have  earthern  pots  of  divers  sizes,  from  a 

1  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil,  Letter  of  April  21,  1725  (Doc.  Col.  Hist.  New  York,  Al¬ 
bany,  1855,  vol.  lx,  p.  943),  quoted  by  Holmes. 

2  De  Forest,  History  of  the  Indians  of  Connecticut,  p.  66. 

3  Champlain,  Voyages  (Prince  Society),  vol.  11,  p.  86. 


POTTERY  OF  NEW  ENGLAND  INDIANS  95 


quart  to  a  gallon,  2  or  3,  to  boyl  their  vitels  in;  very  strong 
though  they  be  thin  like  our  iron  pots.”  1 

Clay  vessels  were  used  by  the  New  England  Indians  as  late 
as  1674.  At  this  date  Gookin  writes :  “The  pots  they  seeth  their 
food  in,  which  were  heretofore  and  yet  are  in  use  among  some 
of  them,  are  made  of  clay  or  earth,  almost  in  the  form  of  an  egg, 
the  top  taken  off.  But  now  they  generally  get  kettles  of  brass, 


Fig.  10 — Pottery  vessels,  probably  Massachuset  Indians,  a,  From  Revere,  Massachu¬ 
setts.  b,  From  grave  at  Hingham,  Massachusetts.  Rater  Algonquian  Group. 
(About  one-half.) 


copper  or  iron.  These  they  find  more  lasting  than  those  of  clay 
which  were  subject  to  be  broken  and  the  clay  or  earth  they  were 
made  of  was  very  scarce  and  dear.”  2 

Four  pots,  taken  from  graves  of  the  historic  Massachuset 
Indians  at  Winthrop  by  Professor  Putnam,  are  illustrated  in  figs. 
8  and  9.  While  these  specimens  show  decided  Iroquoian  char¬ 
acteristics,  they  are  undoubtedly  the  work  of  the  Massachuset. 


1  Morton,  New  English  Canaan  (Prince  Society),  p.  159. 

2  Gookin,  Historical  Collections,  in  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  1st  s.,  repr.,  1859,  vol.  I, 


96 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


In  fig.  io  are  shown  two  small  vessels,  probably  also  the  work  of 
this  people:  a  is  from  Revere,  and  b  from  a  grave  in  Hingham. 
The  former  is  in  the  Peabody  Museum  at  Salem.  Fig.  u,  a, 


Fig.  11 — Pottery  vessels  from  near  Hartford,  Connecticut.  Pater  Algonquian  Group. 


shows  the  upper  portion  of  a  pot  from  near  Hartford,  Connecti¬ 
cut,  and  in  fig.  1 1  b,  is  illustrated  a  finely-formed  vessel  from 
East  Windsor,  a  few  miles  above  Hartford.  This  is  now  in  the 
American  Museum,  New  York  City.  Much  of  the  later  ware 
shows  cord-markings  upon  the  bodies,  caused  probably  by  cord- 
wrapped  paddles  used  as  implements  by  the  primitive  potters. 
Cord-markings  sometimes  occur  also  upon  archaic  pottery,  but 
they  are  not  characteristic  of  this  class. 

An  interesting  example  of  the  influence  of  foreign  forms 
upon  the  further  development  of  native  pottery  is  illustrated  by 
a  flat-bottomed,  handled  mug,  now  in  the  Peabody  Museum  of 
Harvard  University,  made  by  the  Indians  from  shell-tempered 
clay,  the  shape,  of  course,  being  copied  from  a  European  model. 


POTTERY  OF  NEW  ENGLAND  INDIANS  97 


This  was  taken  from  a  grave  near  Springfield,  Massachusetts, 
and  is  the  only  example  of  its  kind  from  New  England  known 


a  b 

Fig.  12 — Fragments  of  pot-rims,  a ,  Lake  Auburn,  Maine,  b,  Damariscotta,  Maine. 

Later  Algonquian  Group. 

to  the  writer.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  other  copies  of 
European  dishes  were  made  and  used  by  these  Indians. 

IROQUOIAN  POTTERY 

There  seems  to  be  archaeological  evidence  that  at  least  a  part 
of  the  region  drained  by  the  western  Vermont  tributaries  to 
Lake  Champlain  was  occupied  at  one  time  by  Iroquoian  tribes. 
The  terra-cotta  pipes  and  much  of  the  pottery  from  this  section 
are  distinctly  the  work  of  this  people.  The  relative  abundance 
of  these  remains  seems  to  point  to  occupancy  rather  than  to 
commerce.  The  collection  of  Iroquoian  pottery  from  the  state 
of  New  York  in  the  Peabody  Museum  of  Harvard  University 
consists  of  about  forty-six  perfect  vessels  and  thousands  of  sherds, 
many  of  which  are  fragments  of  rims.  A  comparison  of  this 
collection  with  the  illustrated  examples  from  Vermont  leaves  no 
doubt  in  the  mind  of  the  writer  as  to  the  Iroquoian  origin  of  the 
latter. 

The  beautiful  pot  shown  in  fig.  13  is  from  Colchester,  Ver¬ 
mont.  Perfect  vessels  of  this  type  are  rare,  but  fragments  are 


98  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


found  in  the  Iroquoian  country  of  New  York  and  Quebec.  This 
is  one  of  the  most  elaborate  and  ornate  forms  made  by  these 
clever  potters.  The  example  shown  in  fig.  14,  found  near  New 
Burlington,  is  presumably  from  a  grave.  In  fig.  15  is  illustrated 
a  large  cooking-pot  secured  many  years  ago  at  Bolton,  Vermont. 
This  also  may  be  attributed  to  the  same  people.  These  three 
specimens  are  now  in  the  museum  of  the  State  University  at 
Burlington.  In  various  other  sections  of  New  England,  frag¬ 
ments  of  Iroquoian  pottery  are  found,  but  not  as  yet  in  sufficient 
quantity  to  indicate  occupancy  of  the  region  by  this  people. 


Fig.  13 — Pottery  vessel,  Colchester,  Vermont.  Iroquoian  Group.  (About  one-half.) 


POTTERY  OF  NEW  ENGLAND  INDIANS  99 


Fig.  14 — Pottery  vessel,  New  Burlington,  Vermont.  Iroquoian  Group.  (About 

two-fifths.) 


Fragments  of  two  rims  are  shown  in  fig.  16;  b  is  from  the  beach 
at  Ipswich,  Massachusetts,  and  a  is  from  Holderness,  New 
Hampshire.  These  are  distinguished  not  only  by  their  form  and 
decoration,  but  by  the  texture  of  the  clay,  which,  in  nearly  all 
this  pottery,  is  of  good  quality,  and  free  from  the  coarse  tem¬ 
pering  material  often  used  by  the  eastern  Algonquians. 


100 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Fig.  15  —  Pottery  vessel,  Bolton,  Vermont.  Iroquoian  Group. 

(One-fourth.) 


A  typical  Iroquoian  pot  is  shown  in  fig.  17.  This  was  taken 
from  a  grave  in  Putnam,  northeastern  Connecticut,  and  is  now 
in  the  Gilbert  Museum  at  Amherst  College.  Another  pot  (fig. 


Fig.  16 — Fragments  of  pot-rims,  a,  Holderness,  New  Hampshire,  b,  Ipswich,  Mass¬ 
achusetts.  Iroquoian  Group. 


18)  having  strong  Iroquoian  characteristics,  was  obtained  from 
an  historic  grave  in  Deerfield,  Massachusetts.  It  is  preserved 
in  the  Memorial  Hall  Museum  of  that  town.  Isolated  examples 


POTTERY  OF  NEW  ENGLAND  INDIANS  ioi 


Fig.  17 — Pottery  vessel  from  grave  at  Put¬ 
nam,  northeastern  Connecticut.  Iroquoian 
Group.  (About  one-third.) 


Fig.  18 — Pottery  vessel  from  his¬ 
toric  grave,  Deerfield,  Massa¬ 
chusetts.  Iroquoian  Group. 
(One-third.) 


of  this  pottery  may  have  been  brought  from  the  Iroquoian 
country  by  trade  or  as  booty,  or  they  may  have  been  fashioned 
by  captured  or  adopted  women. 


Peabody  Museum,  Harvard  University 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts 


THE  SEIP  MOUND 


BY 


William  C.  Mills 


HE  Seip  Mound  is  situated  within  the  largest  prehis¬ 


toric  earthworks  of  the  Paint  Creek  valley  of  Ohio, 


known  as  the  Seip  Group.1 

One  very  large  mound  and  another  half  its  size,  enclosed 
with  earthworks,  which  form  a  combination  of  two  circles  and 
a  square,  and  five  mounds  situated  outside  the  earthworks  but 
in  close  proximity  to  them,  constitute  the  Seip  Group.  This 
group  is  situated  in  Paxton  township,  Ross  county,  Ohio,  about 
three  miles  east  of  Bambridge,  a  village  in  the  extreme  western 
portion  of  the  county.  The  mounds  can  readily  be  reached  by 
conveyance,  as  the  old  Milford  and  Chillicothe  pike  passes  in 
sight  of  the  works  and  the  Detroit  Southern  railway  has  a  flag 
station  only  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away. 

Paint  Creek  valley  has  long  been  known  for  its  beautiful 
scenery  and  productive  soil.  It  is  drained  by  Paint  creek,  a 
stream  of  irregular  turbulence,  crossing  from  one  side  of  the 
valley  to  the  other  until  it  finally  empties  into  the  Scioto  river 
south  of  Chillicothe. 

The  mounds  and  earthworks  comprising  this  group  occupy 
the  greater  portion  of  the  rich  agricultural  bottom-land  in  the 

1  Described  by  Squier  and  Davis  in  Ancient  Monuments  of  the  Mississippi  Valley , 
pp.  4,  58. 


THE  SEIP  MOUND 


103 


great  bend  formed  by  Paint  creek  as  it  changes  its  course  from 
the  north  side  of  the  valley  directly  to  the  south  side,  where  it 
follows  the  base  of  the  foothills  for  some  distance. 

At  the  present  time  one  can  readily  trace  the  circles,  but  the 
square  with  its  various  openings  cannot  be  so  readily  followed. 
Yet,  when  the  site  is  freshly  plowed,  the  old  walls  are  easily 
discerned  by  a  slight  elevation  and  the  change  in  appearance  of 
the  soil.  The  mounds,  which  are  all  quite  large,  have  deterior¬ 
ated  less  than  the  earthworks,  but  the  farm  cultivation  of  the 
few  outside  the  walls  has  greatly  reduced  them  in  height. 

The  two  mounds  within  the  walls  have  suffered  little  by  the 
encroachment  of  agriculture.  The  larger  of  the  two  mounds 
is  known  as  the  Pricer  Mound,  and  at  the  present  a  number  of 
large  native  trees  are  growing  upon  its  top  and  sides.  It  is 
about  twenty-five  feet  high  and  240  feet  long.  The  mound  has 
been  fenced  about,  and  the  enclosure  is  now  used  as  a  sheep 
pasture,  consequently  the  surface  of  the  mound  is  devoid  of  the 
usual  growth  of  weeds  and  bramble  so  common  to  the  large 
mounds  in  Ohio. 


Situation  and  Dimensions 

The  Seip  Mound,  named  in  honor  of  the  Seip  brothers,  the 
present  owners  of  the  land,  is  about  half  the  size  of  the  Pricer 
Mound  and  is  situated  upon  the  same  terrace,  only  a  short  dis¬ 
tance  to  the  east  of  the  larger  mound  (see  plate  i) . 

Squier  and  Davis,  in  their  drawing  of  this  group,  note  the 
Seip  Mound  as  three  distinct  mounds,  as  shown  in  plate  II.  I 
have  classed  the  group  as  one  mound,  though  made  up  of  three 
separate  but  connected  mounds,  as  our  explorations  afterward 


104 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


revealed.  This  feature  is  invariably  present  in  all  large  mounds 
of  this  culture  group. 

The  measurements  of  the  various  sections  of  this  mound 
differ  greatly.  Commencing  at  the  western  end  of  the  mound, 
which  was  the  largest,  the  height  from  outside  measurements 
was  eighteen  feet;  but  as  the  explorations  progressed,  the  mound 
was  found  to  be  twenty  feet  and  one  inch  high,  making  the  base 
two  feet  and  one  inch  lower  than  appeared  from  the  general 
level  of  the  surrounding  surface.  The  diameter  of  this  section 
north  and  south  was  120  feet.  The  second  section,  closely  con¬ 
nected  with  the  adjoining  one  on  the  east,  was  eleven  feet  ten 
inches  high  with  a  diameter  north  and  south  of  seventy  feet. 
The  third  section  was  not  on  a  line  east  and  west  with  the  other 
two  sections,  but  was  placed  to  the  south,  as  shown  in  plate  II, 
and  clearly  connected  with  section  2.  It  was  six  feet  high  with 
a  diameter  of  forty  feet. 

Special  Features  of  the  Exterior 

The  mound  for  the  greater  part  was  composed  of  loam  or 
surface  soil,  obtained  upon  all  sides  of  the  mound  and  in  close 
proximity  to  it.  The  top  of  the  first  section,  or  larger  mound, 
was  composed  of  clay  and  limestone  gravel.  This  combination, 
in  the  course  of  time,  became  cemented  together,  and  proved 
quite  a  problem  in  its  removal,  as  almost  every  portion  had  to  be 
picked  loose  before  a  shovel  could  be  used.  Another  feature  of 
the  mound  was  discovered  shortly  after  work  was  begun  on  the 
north  side  by  finding,  near  the  base,  several  flat  stones,  averaging 
from  ten  to  fourteen  inches,  so  placed  as  to  resemble  steps.  A 
further  examination  revealed  a  series  of  flat  stones,  from  eighteen 


THE  SKIP  MOUNI) 

Showing  the  Beginning  of  the  Work  upon  the  Third  Section  of  the  Mound.  The  Pricer  Mound  in  the  rear  to  the  left 


Mills — The  Seip  Mound  Plate 


THE  SEIP  MOUND 


105 


to  twenty  inches  under  the  surface,  extending  from  the  base 
toward  the  top  of  the  mound.  The  steps  were  no  doubt  used 
to  aid  in  reaching  the  summit  of  the  mound  with  the  heavy  loads 
of  earth,  in  the  effort  of  the  builders  to  complete  the  monument. 

Another  external  feature  frequently  met  with  in  the  mounds 
of  this  culture  group  is  the  use  of  gravel  in  construction ;  but,  in 
this  mound,,  gravel  of  large  size,  with  the  appearance  of  having 
been  screened,  was  placed  entirely  around  the  base  of  the  mound, 
to  a  depth  of  two  feet,  and  in  many  places  the  depth  reached 
two  and  one-half  feet.  The  width  varied  from  seven  to  five  feet, 
and  at  times  was  a  great  hindrance  to  the  workmen,  as  the  gravel 
had  to  be  removed  in  order  to  expose  the  base  of  the  mound,  and 
at  times  could  not  be  shoveled  but  had  to  be  removed  by  hand. 

Only  one  large  pin-oak  tree  was  left  standing  upon  the 
mound  by  the  owners,  and  this  was  variously  estimated,  before 
removal  by  us,  to  be  from  100  to  175  years  old,  but  when  cut,  and 
the  rings  of  growth  counted,  it  was  found  that  the  tree  probably 
did  not  exist  when  the  mound  was  first  noted  by  Atwater  in  the 
Archceologia  Americana ,  1820. 

Special  Features  of  the  Interior 

Many  very  interesting  features,  as  compared  with  other 
mounds  of  this  culture  group,  were  brought  to  light  in  the 
examination  of  the  Seip  Mound. 

First,  the  site  of  the  mound  exhibits .  three  separate  in¬ 
closures,  circular  in  form,  as  evidenced  by  the  post-molds,  ex¬ 
tending  into  the  base  of  the  mound.  The  post-molds  had 
charred  wood  at  the  top  of  the  mold,  indicating  that  the  posts 


io6  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

at  one  time  extended  above  the  surface,  and  no  doubt  formed 
the  sides  of  the  building,  or  charnel-house. 

Second,  the  object  of  the  mound  was  a  monument  to  the 
dead,  placed  over  the  site  of  the  charnel-house.  The  burials 
were  similar  in  many  respects  to  those  of  the  Harness  Mound,1 
but  differed  in  many  instances  as  to  the  number  of  cremated 
dead  placed  in  a  prepared  burial  cist.  All  the  burials  placed 
in  the  charnel-house  were  cremated,  and  graves  were  prepared 
for  the  reception  of  charred  bones  and  ashes  of  the  dead. 

Third,  the  burials  in  the  mound  were  of  two  kinds,  cre¬ 
mated  and  non-cremated.  The  cremated  remains  were  all 
placed  upon  the  floor  of  the  charnel-house,  while  the  non-cre- 
mated  were  promiscuously  placed  in  various  portions  of  the 
mound  above  the  base  line,  only  one  having  a  prepared  grave 
for  the  reception  of  the  body. 

Fourth,  the  builders  of  the  Seip  Mound  were  similar  in 
character  to  those  of  the  Harness  Mound,  and  represented  the 
highest  culture  of  prehistoric  man  in  Ohio. 

The  special  features  enumerated  above  can  be  better  under¬ 
stood  by  further  discussion,  and  I  shall  attempt  in  the  follow¬ 
ing  pages  to  give  a  detailed  account  of  the  examination  of  this 
mound. 

The  Mound  Site 

The  Seip  Mound  is  situated  practically  in  the  center  of  a 
large  circular  earthwork  which,  for  the  most  part,  occupies  the 
third  terrace  of  the  Paint  Creek  valley.  The  surface  of  this  por¬ 
tion  of  the  terrace  is  quite  level,  but  this  particular  spot  selected 

1  Explored  in  1903,  and  described  by  William  C.  Mills  in  Certain  Mounds  and 
Village  Sites  in  Ohio,  1. 


Mills— The  Skip  Mound 


Plate  ii 


SIX  MIPES  OF  PAINT  CREFK  VAEGEY 
A ,  Seip  Group  of  Mounds.  B ,  Baum  Works.  C,  Spruce  Hill  Works 


THE  SEIP  MOUND 


107 


by  the  builders  was  somewhat  lower  than  the  surrounding  sur¬ 
face.  Perhaps  the  surface  soil,  which  had  been  removed  almost 
to  the  gravel,  had  been  used  in  the  construction  of  the  large 
Pricer  Mound,  which  is  only  a  few  hundred  yards  away.  After 
selecting  the  site,  the  building  was  constructed  by  placing  large 
posts  in  the  ground  to  a  depth  averaging  two  and  one-half  feet. 
These  were  so  placed  as  to  form  a  circular  building  sixty  feet 
in  diameter  east  and  west,  and  seventy-two  feet  in  diameter  north 
and  south.  These  posts,  forming  the  outside  of  the  building, 
averaged  two  and  one-half  feet  apart.  Two  entrances  to  the 
building  were  found  —  one  to  the  northwest,  and  one  to  the  east. 
The  entrance  to  the  northwest  was  of  peculiar  construction,  and 
made  by  the  walls  overlapping  each  other,  forming  a  passageway 
or  hall  about  three  feet  in  width  and  seven  feet  in  length.  The 
passageway  was  covered  with  a  fine  sand  varying  in  thickness 
from  two  inches  to  half  an  inch,  and  so  firmly  packed  as  to  have 
the  appearance  of  coarse  sandstone. 

The  floor  of  this  section  of  the  mound  was  very  irregular, 
as  shown  by  the  examination.  On  the  south  side  but  little  fill 
was  required  to  make  the  floor  level.  As  the  north  side  of  the 
floor  of  the  charnel-house  was  approached,  it  was  found  that 
seventeen  inches  of  a  fill  was  required  to  make  the  floor  level. 
This  fill  was  made  with  logs,  brush,  gravel,  and  clay.  The  logs 
and  brush  were  piled  in  the  lowest  places,  and  covered  with  clay 
and  gravel.  In  the  course  of  time  the  logs  decayed,  but  the 
imprint  or  mold  remained.  Very  frequently  the  molds  con¬ 
nected  with  the  large  upright  post-molds,  extending  deep  into 
the  base.  At  first  glance  one  might  infer  the  builders  had  some 


108  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

design  other  than  building  up  the  floor  to  a  common  level ;  but 
a  careful  examination  revealed  nothing  beyond  the  use  of  logs 
as  a  filler  in  building  the  base  or  floor  to  a  uniform  level. 

The  entrance  to  the  charnel-house  from  the  east  was  a  short 
passageway  from  the  second  circular  charnel-house.  The  pass¬ 
ageway  was  only  about  three  feet  in  width  and  two  and  one-half 
feet  in  length.  The  floor  was  also  covered  with  fine  sand. 

The  second  section  was  also  a  circular  charnel-house  meas¬ 
uring  forty-three  feet  east  and  west,  and  thirty-two  feet  north 
and  south.  The  floor  of  this  section  did  not  require  very  much, 
if  any,  filling  to  make  it  level.  The  outside  posts  formed  the 
sides  of  the  building,  and  were  quite  large  on  the  north  side, 
while  those  used  for  the  other  portions  were  similar  in  size  to 
the  first  section. 

The  openings  in  this  section  were  two  —  one  leading  into 
the  first  section,  as  described,  and  the  second  leading  into  the 
third  section,  with  practically  no  passageway,  as  the  third  section 
was  built  to  the  southeast  of  the  second  section.  The  third 
section  was  oblong,  the  longer  diameter  (which  was  north  and 
south)  being  twenty-two  and  one-half  feet,  and  the  shortest 
diameter  (east  and  west)  fifteen  feet.  The  floor  of  the  third 
section  was  prepared  and  leveled  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
other  two  sections.  The  posts  used  in  the  construction  of  the 
sides  of  this  section  were  all  smaller  than  those  used  in  the 
other  sections. 

The  Object  of  the  Mound 

The  object  of  the  mound  was  a  monument  to  the  dead,  erect¬ 
ed  over  the  site  of  the  various  charnel-houses  described  above. 


THE  SEIP  MOUND 


109 


Before  the  monument  was  erected,  the  superstructure  was  de¬ 
stroyed  by  fire,  as  evidenced  by  the  charred  remains  of  the  posts 
forming  the  outside  walls,  as  well  as  of  the  posts  promiscuously 
distributed  throughout  the  interior  of  the  structure,  which  per¬ 
haps  supported  the  roof.  For  the  most  part  the  upright  posts 
were  burned  off  at  the  base-line;  but  now  and  then  a  large  post 
was  not  entirely  consumed,  and  a  portion  of  the  charred  remains 
extended,  in  many  instances,  several  feet  above  the  base  and 
was  preserved,  while  the  portions  of  the  posts  extending  into  the 
ground  were  entirely  decayed,  only  the  post  mold  remaining. 
Very  frequently  the  post-molds  showed  a  perfect  imprint  of  the 
bark;  while  in  others  knots,  limbs,  or  any  imperfection  in  the 
log  was  visible.  In  several  instances  large  quantities  of  bog 
iron  had  formed  in  the  mold. 

Cremated  Burials 

All  the  remains  of  the  dead  placed  in  the  charnel-house  were 
cremated,  and  I  shall  describe  each  section,  as  they  differed 
somewhat  one  from  the  other. 

In  the  first  section,  which  was  the  first  charnel-house  erected, 
and  the  largest  of  the  group,  many  of  the  prepared  graves  were 
so  constructed  that  one  or  more  burials  could  be  placed  in  the 
same  burial  cist.  This  was  done  by  preparing  a  large  platform 
of  prepared  clay  (pi.  IV,  b) ,  usually  six  to  seven  feet  in  length  and 
four  feet  wide,  and  building  up  the  sides  and  ends  with  round 
logs,  varying  in  diameter  from  five  to  three  inches,  to  the  height 
of  eighteen  or  twenty  inches.  A  cover  was  placed  over  the  top, 
which  was  made  up  usually  of  split  pieces  instead  of  round 


I  IO 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


pieces  used  for  the  sides  and  ends.  Clay  was  then  placed  around 
the  sides  and  ends  to  firmly  hold  the  logs  in  place. 

Four  burials,  as  shown  in  plate  IV,  6,  were  the  largest  num¬ 
ber  found  in  a  grave;  but  two  or  three  burials  were  met  with 
quite  frequently.  The  large  graves  were  placed  near  the  center 
of  the  charnel-house,  and  large  passageways,  often  six  to  seven 
feet  in  width,  intervened.  Near  the  large  graves  a  cluster  of 
small  post-molds,  varying  in  number  from  five  to  seven,  were 
found.  These  posts  were  usually  placed  about  a  foot  apart, 
but  not  in  any  particular  order.  Frequently  the  floor  around 
the  posts  was  covered  with  great  quantities  of  charred  cloth, 
ornaments,  and  implements;  and  occasionally  the  floor  was  cov¬ 
ered  with  mica,  as  shown  in  plate  V,  a.  The  mica  was  usually 
placed  so  as  to  cover  the  floor  completely,  and  only  the  natural 
mica  crystals,  split  in  many  pieces,  were  used. 

It  seems  very  probable  that  the  cluster  of  posts  near  the 
graves  were  the  sacred  shrines  for  the  dead;  and  here  the  cloth¬ 
ing,  and  very  frequently  some  of  the  most  interesting  ornaments 
—  such  as  cut  and  polished  human  jaws,  large  effigy  eagle-claws, 
bear  teeth  set  with  pearls,  pendants  of  ocean  shells,  and  shell 
and  bone  beads  in  great  numbers,  and  in  a  few  instances,  copper 
ornaments  —  were  found,  with  the  charred  woven  fabrics,  pro¬ 
miscuously  placed  upon  the  floor  surrounding  the  posts.  At  one 
of  the  shrines  a  quantity  of  charred  rope  almost  four  feet  in 
length,  and  a  number  of  effigy  eagle-claws  made  of  bone,  were 
found.  The  rope  was  three-ply,  and  made  of  course  bast-fiber, 
perhaps  that  of  basswood. 

The  graves  placed  near  the  outside  walls  were  all  smaller 
than  those  placed  in  the  center  of  the  charnel-house  and  con- 


Mills— The Seip  Mound 


Plate  III 


pi 

tP&L 


'Wt*. 


Plan  of  examination,  with  men  at  work 


■r*\t  *&*,:*; 


The  Third  Section  and  part  of  Second  as  shown  by  stakes  placed  in  the  post-molds 
EXCAVATION  OF  THE  SEIP  MOUND 


THE  SEIP  MOUND 


hi 


tained  only  the  remains  of  one  individual;  in  this  respect  they 
were  similar  to  the  burials  of  the  Edwin  Harness  Mound.1 

All  the  burials  in  this  section  of  the  mound,  which  num¬ 
bered  twenty-four,  were  cremated  at  the  large  crematory  situated 
just  inside  the  northeast  entrance.  The  crematory,  when  uncov¬ 
ered,  was  perfectly  devoid  of  ashes  or  human  remains,  and  meas¬ 
ured  six  feet  by  eight  feet,  the  longer  diameter  being  east  and 
west. 

All  the  graves,  both  large  and  small,  in  this  section,  were 
of  the  plain  elevated  platform  kind,  so  common  in  the  Edwin 
Harness  Mound.  The  platform  type  was  made  of  clay,  and 
invariably  elevated  from  six  to  ten  inches  above  the  floor  of  the 
charnel-house.  The  platform  was  usually  higher  in  the  center, 
gradually  sloping  to  the  sides  and  ends,  where  logs  averaging 
about  six  inches  in  diameter  had  been  placed,  usually  in  the  form 
of  a  parallelogram.  The  clay  used  in  the  construction  of  the 
grave  had  the  appearance  of  having  been  puddled  before  being 
used;  and  in  many  instances,  after  the  coating  of  puddled  clay 
had  been  placed  over  the  grave,  a  fire  was  built  and  the  clay 
burned  to  a  light  red.  The  ashes  and  any  charcoal  that  might 
remain  were  removed  before  the  incinerated  remains  were  placed 
in  the  grave. 

As  stated,  the  single  graves  in  the  first  section  were  similar 
in  construction  to  those  of  the  Harness  Mound,  but  showing 
difference  in  the  final  ceremony.  In  the  Harness  Mound,  after 
the  incinerated  remains  were  placed  in  the  grave,  objects  of 
clothing,  together  with  straw,  bark,  or  twigs,  were  placed  over 

i  The  Edwin  Harness  Mound  is  situated  eight  miles  south  of  Chillicothe,  along  the 
Scioto.  Explored  by  William  C.  Mills,  1903,  and  described  in  Certain  Mounds  and  Village 
Sites  in  Ohio,  L 


I  12 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


the  remains  and  set  on  fire;  while  burning,  clay  was  covered 
over  the  grave,  thus  preserving  the  cloth,  the  grass,  and  twigs 
in  a  charred  state.  This  ceremony  was  dispensed  with  in  this 
section  of  the  Seip  Mound;  the  incinerated  remains  were 
placed  in  the  prepared  grave,  and  a  covering  of  wood,  usually 
split  pieces,  was  placed  over  the  top,  and  the  grave  covered  with 
earth  to  a  depth  of  a  few  inches. 

For  the  most  part,  adults  were  buried  in  this  section;  yet  in 
the  grave  containing  four  burials,  one  was  an  adolescent,  and  in 
another,  a  very  small  child  was  placed  by  the  side  of  an  adult. 
All  the  burials  in  this  section  were  rich  in  copper  implements 
and  ornaments,  placed  in  the  graves. 

The  graves  in  the  second  section  were  similar  in  construc¬ 
tion  to  those  of  the  first  section;  all  being  of  the  platform  type, 
however,  they  varied  greatly  in  size  from  the  ordinary  single 
grave  to  a  very  large  size  (twelve  feet  two  inches  long  by  four 
feet  five  inches  wide)  and  contained  the  remains  of  two  individ¬ 
uals,  so  placed  as  to  occupy  the  ends  of  the  grave.  The  inter¬ 
vening  space  was  not  used,  due  perhaps  to  the  fact  that  this 
section,  together  with  the  third  section  (which  did  not  contain 
a  single  burial),  was  abandoned  before  the  house  was  filled. 

The  burials  in  the  second  section  were  placed  around  the 
side  walls,  and  the  center  was  devoid  of  graves. 

The  final  ceremony  of  burning  straw,  bark,  and  clothing 
over  the  remains,  similar  to  the  burial  methods  at  the  Harness 
Mound,  was  in  evidence  in  nine  burials  of  the  nineteen  found  on 
the  base  of  the  section,  and  only  one  of  the  nineteen  was  cremated 
in  the  grave  where  the  remains  were  found. 


Mills — The:  Skip  Mound 


Plate;  IV 


Uncovering  the  floor  of  the  mound 


A  family  burial  cist  containing  four  cremated  burials 
EXCAVATION  OF  THE  SEIP  MOUND 


THE  SKIP  MOUND 


1 13 

The  floor  of  the  third  section  of  the  charnel-house  was  en¬ 
tirely  devoid  of  burials,  and  at  only  one  point,  which  was  near 
the  west  side,  did  the  floor  show  any  signs  of  having  a  fire  built 
upon  it. .  Here  the  earth  was  burned  to  a  deep  red.  Perhaps  a 
body  had  been  cremated  there,  and  the  remains  deposited  in  one 
of  the  other  sections. 

Perhaps  no  definite  reason  can  be  given  for  erecting  a  mon¬ 
ument  over  an  unoccupied  site;  but  the  most  plausible  reason, 
when  taking  into  consideration  the  second  section,  which  was 
only  partially  filled,  is  that  the  site  was  abandoned,  the  charnel- 
houses  burned,  and  the  mound  erected  over  all  as  a  monument  to 
the  dead. 

Non-cremated  Burials 

The  five  non-cremated  burials  found  in  the  various  sections 
of  the  mound  were  promiscuously  placed  at  various  heights 
from  the  base-line,  and  only  one  had  anything  like  a  prepared 
grave  for  the  reception  of  the  body.  The  grave  was  placed 
three  feet  above  the  floor  of  the  charnel-house  in  Section  2. 
The  bottom  of  the  grave  was  formed  of  large  slabs  of  slate,  and 
the  body  was  laid  at  full-length  upon  the  slabs  and  covered 
with  soil. 

One  burial  was  found  in  the  third  section,  two  feet  and  a 
half  above  the  floor.  No  grave  was  prepared,  and  the  body  was 
doubled  up  and  laid  on  the  mound,  and  was  covered  with  earth, 
similar  to  the  burial  in  Section  2. 

The  two  burials  evidently  were  individuals  who  died  dur¬ 
ing  the  building  of  the  mound,  as  their  implements  of  copper 
and  ornaments  of  shell  were  identical  with  those  found  in  the 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


1 14 

graves  of  the  cremated  dead  placed  upon  the  floor  of  the  charnel- 
house. 

The  other  three  burials  were  found  in  Section  1.  One 
burial,  that  of  an  adolescent,  was  placed  seven  feet  above  the 
floor,  and  was  buried  similar  to  the  one  in  Section  3,  with  no 
apparent  grave  prepared  for  the  body.  The  ornaments  of  bear- 
teeth  set  with  pearls,  and  a  large  string  of  ocean-shell  beads, 
were  similar  to  those  found  with  the  cremated  dead  placed  upon 
the  floor. 

The  remains  of  the  other  two  burials  of  this  section  were 
placed  together  in  a  double  grave,  ten  feet  above  the  floor.  The 
grave  was  evidently  dug  into  the  side  of  the  mound,  as  the  out¬ 
lines  of  the  grave  were  very  noticeable.  The  remains,  when 
placed  in  the  grave,  were  perhaps  for  the  most  part  devoid  of 
flesh,  and  had  been  carried  from  some  distant  part  of  the  coun¬ 
try,  or  had  been  temporarily  buried  in  some  convenient  place 
where  the  bones  could  be  collected  and  afterward  placed  in  the 
mound.  The  various  parts  of  the  skeletons  were  promiscuously 
placed  in  the  grave:  the  skulls  were  placed  upside  down,  and 
only  a  few  inches  apart;  the  lower  jaws  were  detached  and  placed 
in  another  part  of  the  grave;  the  arm  and  leg  bones  were  placed 
side  by  side,  and  several  bones  of  the  hands  and  feet  were  entirely 
missing. 

One  large  copper  plate  (ten  inches  in  length  and  five  inches 
in  width)  and  a  fine  copper  axe  (four  inches  in  length  and  two 
inches  in  width) ,  together  with  large  strings  of  ocean-shell  beads, 
were  found  near  the  bottom  of  the  grave.  The  implements  and 
ornaments  were  similar  in  every  respect  to  those  found  upon 
the  floor  of  the  charnel-house. 


Mins  -The  Seip  Mound 


Plate  V 


The  post-molds  in  the  second  section 
EXCAVATION  OF  THE  SEIP  MOUND 


THE  SEIP  MOUND 


"5 

My  conclusions  are,  concerning  the  non-cremated  dead  pro¬ 
miscuously  placed  above  the  floor  of  the  charnel-house,  that  they 
belong  to  the  same  culture  represented  by  the  cremated  dead 
placed  upon  the  floor  of  the  charnel-house;  that  three  of  the 
individuals  died  during  the  time  required  for  the  erection  of 
the  mound,  and  the  custom  of  cremation  was  dispensed  with; 
that  the  two  dismembered  individuals  placed  in  one  grave  were 
disinterred,  and  the  remains  brought  to  the  mound  and  buried 
with  the  dead  belonging  to  the  same  culture. 

The  Artifacts  Found  with  the  Burials 

The  artifacts  taken  from  the  burials  of  this  mound,  as  a 
whole,  were  very  interesting,  although  in  the  second  and  third 
sections  but  few  implements  and  ornaments  were  placed  in  the 
graves;  but  in  the  first  section,  almost  every  burial  was  prolific 
in  implements  and  ornaments  of  copper,  mica,  shell,  and  stone. 

From  the  forty-eight  burials  contained  in  the  three  sections 
of  the  mound  were  obtained  upward  of  two  thousand  specimens, 
representing  the  highest  art  of  prehistoric  man  in  Ohio. 

The  material  from  which  the  implements  and  ornaments 
were  made  came  from  widely  separated  regions.  The  copper 
used  in  making  the  implements  and  ornaments  no  doubt  came 
from  the  Lake  Superior  region ;  the  ocean  shells  used  in  making 
drinking-cups,  pendants,  and  beads,  perhaps  came  from  the 
Gulf;  and  the  mica  which  was  so  universally  used  for  ornament 
came  from  North  Carolina. 

The  finding  of  so  much  material  so  remote  from  the  sources 
of  supply  indicates  that  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  this  section 


1 16  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

had  an  intertribal  trade,  for  it  seems  impossible  that  the  Ohio 
tribes  visited  these  widely  separated  points. 

ORNAMENTS  OF  COPPER 

The  best  preserved  specimens  found  in  the  graves  are  the 
implements  and  ornaments  made  of  copper;  and  perhaps,  next 
to  the  ear  ornaments,  the  most  interesting  of  the  copper  orna¬ 
ments  are  the  large  copper  plates,  of  which  sixteen  were  found 
in  the  various  sections  of  the  mound.  The  plates  are  made  each 
of  one  piece  of  native  copper,  hammered  to  about  an  eighth  of 
an  inch  in  thickness;  and  a  few  were  found  that  would  approach 
a  sixteenth  of  an  inch  in  thickness.  The  plates  vary  in  size  from 
ten  inches  and  a  half  in  length  by  five  inches  and  a  half  in  width, 
to  three  inches  and  a  quarter  in  length  by  two  inches  and  a  half 
in  width.  The  plates  are  made  in  the  general  form  of  a  parallel¬ 
ogram,  with  the  ends  cut  concave  and  the  sides  straight;  how¬ 
ever,  one  plate  has  a  large  scroll  cut  on  one  side,  as  shown  in 
plate  VI,  a ,  and  one  plate  has  both  ends  cut  into  ornamental 
forms,  as  shown  in  plate  VI,  b.  A  large  plate,  size  ten  inches  and 
a  half  long  by  five  inches  and  a  half  wide,  and  covered  with  cyl¬ 
indrical  beads  made  of  ocean  shell,  is  shown  in  plate  VI,  c.  This 
copper  plate,  together  with  three  more,  almost  equal  in  size, 
and  the  two  ornamented  plates  described  above,  were  all  taken 
from  the  same  grave.  On  account  of  the  special  features  of  this 
burial  cist,  I  will  quote  from  my  field  notes: 

Grave  No  19,  which  was  placed  within  six  feet  of  No  18,  and 
directly  north  of  it,  was  the  largest  and  finest  so  far  discovered  in  this  mound. 
The  cist  was  made  by  preparing  a  platform  of  clay,  the  highest  point  of  which 
was  10  inches  above  the  floor  of  the  charnel-house,  and  4  inches  above  the  first 
logs  laid  around  this  platform  to  form  the  walls  of  the  cist.  The  side-walls  of 


Mills — The  Seip  Mound 


Plate  Vi 


a.  Targe  copper  plate  with  scroll  cut  in  side 


b.  Copper  plate  with  ends  ornamented 


c.  Copper  plate  with  shell  beads  attached  through  corrosion 
COPPER  PRATES  FROM  THE  SEIP  MOUND 


THE  SEIP  MOUND 


1x7 

the  cist  were  18  inches  high,  and  made  in  the  form  of  a  parallelogram — 7  feet  3 
inches  in  length,  and  4  feet  in  width.  The  molds  of  the  lower  logs  were  fully  7 
inches  in  diameter,  while  the  upper  logs  varied  from  5  t0  3  inches  in  diameter. 
The  usual  split  pieces,  as  indicated  by  the  molds,  were  placed  over  the  top.  The 
clay  forming  the  top  of  the  platform  had  been  burned.  Upon  this  platform 
were  placed  two  burials — one  at  the  south  end  (which  was  burial  No  21),  and 
one  to  the  east  side  (which  was  burial  No  22).  They  were  so  placed  that 
further  burials  could  be  placed  in  the  cist. 

Burial  No.  21,  which  occupied  a  portion  of  the  south  end  of  the  cist, 
was  an  adult,  and,  from  the  general  appearance  of  the  incinerated  bones,  was,  no 
doubt,  a  male.  Before  the  incinerated  bones  had  been  placed  in  the  grave,  a 
tanned  skin  of  some  animal  was  placed  at  the  bottom  of  the  cist.  Upon  the  skin 
was  placed  a  large  copper  axe,  6*4  inches  long,  4  inches  wide  at  the  bit,  and  3 
inches  wide  at  the  pole.  The  axe  was  also  wrapped  in  leather,  which  was  pre¬ 
served  by  the  salts  of  copper.  The  incinerated  remains  were  placed  in  a  pile 
over  the  copper  axe,  and  covered  with  a  coarse  matting  of  bark. 

Between  burials  21  and  22  was  placed  a  large  spear-point  that  was  very 
much  broken  by  heat.1 

Practically  the  same  preparation  was  given  burial  No.  22.  The  tanned 
skin  was  placed  on  the  bottom  of  the  cist,  and  large  copper  plates,  6  in  number, 
were  placed  upon  the  covered  platform.  Two  of  the  plates  differed  greatly 
from  the  other  four,  in  being  decorated  with  scrolls  and  scallops  upon  the  sides 
and  ends.  Over  the  plates  a  very  long  string  of  beads  was  coiled.  The  beads 
were  made  of  ocean  shell,  cylindrical  in  form,  and  varied  in  length  from  }4  to 
Ya  of  an  inch.  The  beads  were  firmly  attached  to  the  plate  by  corrosion  of  the 
copper.  On  each  side  of  the  copper  plates  was  placed  a  single  ear  ornament  of 
copper,  also  seven  large  pieces  of  ocean  shells,  several  of  them  6  inches  in  length 
and  about  an  inch  in  width.  Each  was  perforated  with  two  holes,  one  at  each 
end,  for  attachment,  and  so  made  as  to  be  not  visible  from  the  convex  side.  This 
was  done  by  boring  a  small  hole  at  about  the  middle  of  the  square  end,  to  a 
depth  of  Y  inch,  and  connecting  this  hole  with  another,  bored  from  the  con- 

1  After  the  entire  contents  of  the  grave  were  shipped  to  the  Museum  and  examined, 
the  various  pieces  of  the  spear  were  found  and  fully  restored:  Length,  9  inches;  width, 
3%  inches. 


ii8  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

cave  side  of  the  shell.  Ten  or  twelve  bear-teeth,  which  had  been  split  and 
polished  into  thin  gorget-like  forms,  and  perforated  with  two  holes,  were  placed 
around  the  outside  of  the  copper  plates. 

The  cremated  remains  were  then  placed  over  the  ornaments,  and  several 
thicknesses  of  matting,  made  of  bark,  were  placed  over  all. 

Between  the  two  burials,  but  near  to  No.  22,  was  located  an  adult  human 
skull  with  lower  jaw. 

The  plates  and  other  objects  found  in  the  grave  could  only 
be  superficially  examined  in  the  field,  and  the  most  interesting 
points  were  necessarily  left  until  the  objects  were  brought  to  the 
laboratory. 

The  copper  plate  shown  in  plate  VI,  0,  is  perhaps  the  heav¬ 
iest  and  smoothest  of  all  the  plates  taken  from  the  mound.  The 
scroll  pattern  cut  upon  one  side  of  the  plate  makes  the  specimen 
unique  so  far  as  the  Ohio  mounds  are  concerned.  The  plate  was 
wrapped  in  leather  when  it  was  placed  in  the  grave,  and  portions 
still  adhere  to  the  plate,  as  shown  in  the  illustration. 

The  plate  shown  in  b  is  perhaps  also  unique.  An  attempt 
has  been  made  in  this  plate  to  decorate  the  ends  instead  of  the 
side.  The  work  of  cutting  the  scrolls  is  not  so  perfect  and 
graceful  as  in  the  other  plate,  but  it  is  more  elaborate.  The 
intervening  portion  between  the  scrolls  is  cut  into  scalloped 
forms.  The  other  end  of  the  plate  is  divided  into  three  scalloped 
sections,  and  each  section  has  a  repousse  decoration  at  the  center. 
The  specimen  is  covered  with  several  layers  of  cloth,  and  re¬ 
pousse  decorations  do  not  show  so  prominently  in  the  figure. 

The  plates  taken  from  other  graves  in  the  mound  were 
similar  in  form  and  size  to  those  contained  in  the  grave  de¬ 
scribed.  However,  one  grave  contained  two  copper  plates,  a 
large  and  a  small  one,  together  with  eight  other  copper  orna- 


THE  SEIP  MOUND 


1 19 

ments.  The  larger  one  presented  a  new  feature  in  copper 
plates.  The  original  plate  was  reinforced  by  being  covered  with 
another  plate,  a  little  larger  in  all  of  its  dimensions.  The  edges 
were  hammered  down  over  the  original  plate  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  resemble  the  work  of  a  modern  artisan. 

Copper  ear-ornaments  were  frequently  met  with  in  graves, 
and  twenty  specimens  were  secured.  They  were  invariably 
found  in  pairs.  The  manufacture  of  these  ornaments  required 
skill  as  well  as  a  high  degree  of  advancement  in  decorative  art. 
The  form  of  manufacture  of  the  ear-ornaments,  although  two 
different  types  were  found,  is  similar.  One  type  is  made  of  two 
concavo-convex  plates  which  are  connected  by  a  cylindrical  col¬ 
umn;  but  only  a  few  pairs  of  this  type  were  found.  The  other 
type,  which  is  more  common,  is  made  of  four  plates  of  copper, 
two  of  which  are  circular  and  two  concavo-convex.  The  con¬ 
cavo-convex  plates  are  attached  to  the  circular  pieces  which 
form  the  inside  of  the  ornament.  The  discs  are  connected  with 
a  small  cylinder  of  copper.1 

Other  copper  ornaments  were  found  sparingly  in  the  burial 
cists.  From  one  grave  a  large  copper  crescent  was  removed, 
and  from  another,  six  large  copper  balls. 

Only  two  kinds  of  copper  implements  were  found  in  the 
mound  —  awls  and  axes.  The  awls,  four  in  number,  vary  in 
length  from  seven  inches  and  a  half  to  three  inches.  The  awls 
are  usually  round,  tapering  to  a  point  at  both  ends,  although  one 
specimen  has  one  end  blunt,  the  body  flat,  and  the  other  end 
tapering  to  a  point. 

1  For  a  complete  description  of  this  type  of  ear-ornaments,  see  Certain  Mounds  and 
Village  Sites  in  Ohio,  1,  Sec.  3. 


120 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  copper  axes  are  unusually  interesting  on  account  of 
their  variation  in  size.  The  largest  is  six  inches  and  a  half  long 
and  four  inches  wide  at  the  bit,  while  the  smallest  is  two  inches 
and  a  quarter  long  and  an  inch  wide  at  the  bit.  Nine  axes 
were  taken  from  the  various  sections  of  the  mound,  and  all  are 
of  the  plano-convex  type  so  common  in  the  Scioto  valley.  They 
are  made  from  masses  of  native  copper,  and  the  irregularities  of 
the  surface  are  quite  pronounced  in  many  of  them. 

BONE  OBJECTS 

Bone  implements  and  ornaments  are  always  associated  with 
prehistoric  man  in  Ohio,  and  the  implements  of  bone  and  teeth 
played  an  important  part  in  the  life  of  the  builders  of  this  mound. 
The  bone  objects  may  be  grouped  under  two  heads,  utilitarian 
and  ornamental.  Under  the  utilitarian  objects  are  placed  bone 
digging-tools,  needles,  awls,  etc. 

The  bone  digging-tools  were  frequently  met  with  outside 
the  graves  and  scattered  through  the  soil  of  the  mound.  The 
tools  are  simply  large  fragments  of  the  femora  and  shoulder 
blades  of  large  animals,  such  as  bear,  deer,  and  elk.  The  bones 
were  used  in  digging  the  soil  preparatory  to  its  use  in  building 
the  mound.  The  tools  naturally  would  be  carried  to  the  mound, 
and  frequently  one  would  be  lost  when  the  load  of  soil  was 
deposited  thereon. 

Bone  awls  or  bodkins  were  for  the  greater  part  destroyed 
when  the  bodies  were  cremated,  as  many  pieces  of  implements 
were  found  among  the  calcined  remains;  but  several  perfect 
pieces  were  found. 


THE  SEIP  MOUND 


1 2 1 


The  awls  were  invariably  made  from  the  tarso-metatarsus 
of  the  wild  turkey  by  cutting  away  the  anterior  part  of  the  bone 
almost  to  the  center,  and  carrying  this  cut  through  to  the  pos¬ 
terior  end. 

The  awls  vary  in  length  from  three  to  four  inches, 
and  the  points  have  a  gradual  taper  and  are  very  sharp. 

Great  skill  and  much  labor  were  required  to  make  the  bone 
needles  of  the  type  found  in  the  mound.  They  are  usually  made 
from  the  strong  metapodial  bone  of  the  deer.  The  needles  are 
usually  from  three  to  five  inches  long,  gradually  tapering  from 
the  head  to  the  point.  The  head  is  invariably  flat,  and  pierced 
with  a  small  hole  near  the  end.  The  hole  is  bored  from  both 
sides.  In  one  of  the  graves  was  unearthed  a  large  curved  needle, 
eight  inches  in  length,  made  of  the  rib  of  some  animal.  The 
eye  of  the  needle  is  placed  three-quarters  of  an  inch  from  the 
end,  and  in  many  respects  resembles  the  needles  found  at  Fort 
Ancient. 1 

Many  ornaments  of  bone  and  teeth  were  found  in  perfect 
condition  with  the  burials  in  the  mound,  but  many  of  the  most 
valuable  and  interesting  were  destroyed  by  fire  when  the  bodies 
were  cremated.  A  large  number  of  ornaments  made  of  bear- 
teeth  were  perforated  for  attachment;  the  teeth  were  cut  horizon¬ 
tally  and  the  halves  highly  polished,  and  perforated  with  two 
holes  near  the  center. 

The  most  interesting  of  the  bone  ornaments  are  those  of 
the  effigy  eagle-claws.  They  were  found  in  several  graves;  but 
the  finest  specimens  were  found  at  one  of  the  burial  shrines. 


*  Explorations  of  the  Baum  Village,  in  Certain  Mounds  and  Village  Sites  in  Ohio,  L 


122 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  effigy  claws  are  made  of  the  rib-bones  of  the  elk,  and  very 
often  exceed  four  inches  and  a  half  in  length. 

Several  cut  and  polished  human  jaws,  with  the  teeth  intact, 
were  removed  from  one  of  the  burial  shrines;  this,  however,  was 
not  an  uncommon  find  in  this  culture  group. 

A  large  tooth  of  an  alligator  was  unearthed,  and  from 
another  grave  four  more  teeth  of  the  same  reptile.  The  large 
tooth  is  two  inches  and  a  half  long  and  almost  three-quarters  of 
an  inch  in  diameter.  The  teeth  are  all  perforated  for  attach¬ 
ment.  So  far  as  records  go,  this  is  the  first  instance  of  finding 
alligator-teeth  in  the  mounds  of  Ohio. 

ORNAMENTS  OF  SHELL 

Ornaments  such  as  pendants  and  beads  were  found  abun¬ 
dantly,  and  all  are  made  from  ocean  shell.  From  one  grave 
almost  a  thousand  beads,  made  from  ocean  shell  and  averaging 
half  an  inch  in  length,  were  removed. 

From  one  burial  a  beautiful  string  of  pearls,  in  a  good  state 
of  preservation,  was  obtained. 

The  flint  implements  and  the  various  objects  made  of  slate 
and  granite  were  not  abundant  in  the  graves,  but  a  number  of 
excellent  examples  were  procured. 

TEXTILES 

In  a  number  of  graves  of  the  second  section  the  final  burial 
ceremony  consisted  of  setting  fire  to  the  covering  of  straw,  twigs, 
and  cloth,  and  here  the  charred  remnants  of  cloth  and  matting 
are  preserved.  In  the  first  section,  the  charred  cloth,  showing 
the  simplest  to  the  highest  art  in  primitive  weaving,  was  found 


THE  SEIP  MOUND 


123 


at  the  burial  shrines  outside  the  graves.  The  builders  of  the 
Seip  Mound  had  learned  well  the  art  of  textile  making,  for  we 
know  that  the  true  textile  art  began  with  the  spinning  or  making 
of  the  yarn.  This,  of  course,  requires  the  separation  of  fibrous 
tissue  from  the  plant,  and  twisting  the  fibers  so  as  to  make  a 
strong  yarn.  The  cloth  was  made  from  bast-fiber,  secured  from 
many  of  the  trees  and  plants  known  to  exist  in  prehistoric  times.1 

POTTERY 

Fragments  of  broken  pottery  were  found  in  almost  every 
portion  of  the  mound,  and  in  several  instances  potsherds  of  good 
size  and  representing  a  high  type  of  fictile  art  were  found  in 
several  of  the  graves,  but  were  not  associated  with  the  charred 
remains. 

It  seems  strange  to  find  a  people  so  well  versed  in  the  fictile 
art,  being  able  to  produce  objects  in  pottery,  as  shown  by  the 
discarded  sherds,  that  required  great  skill  and  patience  in  order 
to  create  the  symmetry  and  grace  displayed,  who  would  not  in 
some  way  use  it  in  their  mortuary  customs. 

OBJECTS  OF  MICA 

Large  blocks  of  mica  were  found  in  many  graves,  as  well 
as  in  the  shrines  of  the  burial  cists,  where  the  blocks  often  com¬ 
pletely  covered  the  floor.  The  detached  thin  sheets  were  often 
cut  into  geometrical  designs  and  figures,  and  perhaps  served  as 
objects  of  personal  adornment,  as  many  of  the  pieces  have  per¬ 
forations  for  that  purpose. 

1  Specimens  of  cloth  were  subjected  to  microscopical  examination  by  Prof.  J.  H. 
Schaffner,  head  of  the  Department  of  Botany,  Ohio  State  University,  who  pronounced  the 
cloth  to  have  been  made  of  bast-fiber. 


124 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


RESUME: 

A  concise  account  of  the  examination  of  the  Seip  Mound 
having  been  given,  a  brief  mention  of  the  more  salient  parts 
brought  out  by  this  examination  might  be  of  interest. 

The  site  of  the  mound  was  a  charnel-house  where  the  dead 
were  brought  and  prepared  for  the  grave.  The  preparation 
consisted  of  cremating  the  body,  and  afterward  placing  the  in¬ 
cinerated  remains  in  a  prepared  grave  within  the  charnel-house. 
The  site  was  abandoned  before  the  house  was  filled,  the  building 
destroyed  by  fire,  and  a  mound  erected  as  a  monument  to  the 
dead. 

The  charnel-house  consisted  of  three  distinct  sections,  and 
the  size  of  the  mound  erected  over  the  various  sections  was  per¬ 
haps  gauged  by  the  standing  or  importance  of  the  dead  occu¬ 
pants. 

Over  the  first  section  the  mound  was  twenty  feet  high,  and 
the  house  contained  twenty-four  burials,  most  of  which  were 
rich  in  copper  and  other  objects. 

The  monument  over  the  second  section  was  eleven  feet  ten 
inches  high,  and  the  house  contained  nineteen  burials.  Only  a 
few  of  these  contained  objects  of  copper,  and  other  implements 
and  ornaments  were  very  sparingly  found;  while  the  third  sec¬ 
tion  was  five  feet  high  and  did  not  contain  a  single  burial  on  the 
floor  of  the  house. 

In  the  first  section,  graves  were  enlarged,  and  very  often 
two  and  sometimes  three  and  four  burials,  together  with  suffi¬ 
cient  space  for  more,  were  recorded  from  a  single  burial  cist. 
As  not  all  the  remains  were  those  of  adults,  this  condition  would 
suggest  that  the  large  graves  containing  the  remains  of  more  than 


THE  SEIP  MOUND 


125 


one  person  were  those  of  a  family  burial  cist,  and  the  wide  floor- 
space  between  the  cists  made  them  readily  accessible  for  burial 
at  any  time. 

The  profusion  of  implements  and  ornaments  made  of  cop¬ 
per,  shell,  and  bone,  of  a  well-marked  individuality,  shows  that 
the  builders  of  the  Seip  Mound  belonged  to  the  highest  culture 
of  aboriginal  man  in  Ohio,  differing  widely  in  customs  and 
culture  from  the  peoples  inhabiting  the  Baum  village  site,  only 
a  few  miles  down  the  valley  and  practically  in  sight  of  the  Seip 
Mound. 

The  data  secured  by  the  opening  of  this  mound  places  this 
group  in  the  Hopewell  Culture,1  and  according  to  Prof.  W.  H. 
Holmes’s 2  classification,  the  Northwestern  Group. 

The  builders  of  the  mound  had  an  intertribal  trade,  as  evi¬ 
denced  by  the  copper  from  the  Lake  Superior  region,  the  ocean 
shells  and  alligator-teeth  from  the  far  South,  and  mica  from 
North  Carolina. 

The  great  variety  and  quantity  of  woven  fabrics  obtained 
indicate  that  weaving  was  assiduously  practised  and  formed 
one  of  the  most  important  industries. 

The  examination  of  the  mound  proves  beyond  question  that 
its  builders  were  precolumbian. 

Columbus,  Ohio 


1  For  my  own  convenience  I  have  named  the  two  great  cultures,  whose  remains  are 
so  abundant  in  Ohio,  Fort  Ancient  Culture  and  Hopewell  Culture.  “Explorations  of  the 
Baum  Village  Site,”  Ohio  State  Archaeological  and  Historical  Society  Publications,  xiv. 

2  Twentieth  Annual  Refort,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology. 


THE  FISH  IN  ANCIENT  PERUVIAN  ART 


BY 

Charles  W.  Mead 


THE  fish  as  a  symbol  and  as  a  decorative  motive  has  played 
a  prominent  part  in  the  religions  and  arts  of  many 
peoples. 

In  the  various  arts  of  the  prehistoric  peoples  of  the  Peruvian 
coast  region,  numerous  species  of  fish  and  their  many  convention¬ 
alized  forms  are  of  very  common  occurrence.  They  are  either 
absent  or  at  least  only  occasionally  to  be  met  with  in  other  parts 
of  the  country.  Pottery  vessels  were  often  modeled  into  fish- 
forms,  or  decorated  with  fish  painted  or  in  relief.  Wooden  ves¬ 
sels  in  this  form  are  numerous,  as  are  also  fish-forms  cast  or  ham¬ 
mered  in  gold,  silver,  copper,  and  bronze. 

It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  painted  representations  of  fish 
on  cloth,  particularly  on  such  large  coarse  pieces  as  were  often 
used  to  cover  the  mummy-bundles;  but  these  painted  represen¬ 
tations  are  few  compared  to  the  great  number  of  conventional¬ 
ized  forms  where  the  fish  motive,  in  various  colors,  enters  into 
the  woven  fabrics. 

That  the  prehistoric  inhabitants  of  the  coast  region  of 
Peru  should  worship  the  sea  would  be  natural  and  in  accordance 
with  what  we  know  of  other  peoples  similarly  situated  and  in  a 
like  stage  of  development.  The  fish  would  be  the  natural  symbol 
of  the  sea,  and  the  frequency  with  which  it  appears  in  all  the 


THE  FISH  IN  ANCIENT  PERUVIAN  ART  127 


arts  of  these  peoples  would  certainly  indicate  for  it  a  religious 
significance. 

Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  in  his  chapter  entitled  “Of  the  Idol¬ 
atry  and  Gods  which  the  Ancient  Incas  adored,  and  Manner  of 
their  Sacrifices,”  tells  us,  — 

The  inhabitants  near  the  Cordillera  worshipped  that  mountain  for  its 
height,  those  of  the  coast  made  the  sea  their  god,  which  in  their  language  they 
call  Mamachoca,  and  is  as  much  as  to  say  the  mother-sea;  the  whale  for  its 
prodigious  bigness  was  in  no  less  veneration  than  the  rest,  and  every  sort  of  fish 
which  abounded  amongst  them  was  deified,  because  they  believed  that  the  first 
fish  in  the  world  above  them  takes  always  care  to  provide  them  with  a  number 
of  the  like  sort  or  species  sufficient  to  maintain  and  nourish  them.  1 

We  know  that  the  development  of  Peruvian  civilization 
had  been  a  very  long  one,  that  decorative  art  had  reached  a 
high  degree  of  perfection  before  the  coast  regions  came  under 
the  sway  of  the  Inca,  at  a  time  variously  estimated  at  from  a 
hundred  to  three  hundred  years  before  the  conquest. 

Although  the  art  of  this  region  had  passed  through  a  num¬ 
ber  of  periods,  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge  makes  it 
unprofitable  to  treat  the  subject  otherwise  than  as  a  whole,  and 
it  may  be  roughly  summed  up  under  four  heads,  as  follows: 

1.  Realism.  Representations  of  scenes  and  objects,  ani¬ 
mate  and  inanimate,  familiar  to  them  in  their  daily  life. 

2.  Conventionalism.  Conventionalized  forms,  mostly  of 
animals,  in  which  the  degeneration  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
carried  to  the  extent  that  the  identity  is  wholly  lost. 

3.  Symbolism  and  Mythology.  Anthropomoths,  fish,  birds, 
dragons,  serpents,  and  other  figures  probably  having  a  religious 
significance. 


1  Royal  Commentaries,  ed.  Rycaut,  Book  1,  chap.  4. 


128 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


4.  Geometric  Figures.  Scrolls,  meanders,  frets,  and  other 
geometric  figures,  most  of  which  are  common  to  the  decorative 
art  of  many  peoples. 

Realism  was  the  chief  characteristic  of  their  art;  and  even 
in  the  textile  fabrics,  where  the  most  highly  conventionalized 
forms  naturally  occur,  realism  is  apparently  never  entirely  lost 
sight  of:  the  kind  of  animal  intended  to  be  represented  is  still 
recognizable.  I  use  the  word  “apparently”  advisedly,  as  it  is,  of 
course,  within  the  bounds  of  possibility  that  any  of  the  numerous 
geometrical  figures  may  have  represented  to  the  mind  of  the 
artificer  some  animal  form. 

Among  the  woven  fabrics  the  greatest  number  of  conven¬ 
tionalized  figures  are  found  in  the  vicuna  borders  which  were 
commonly  sewed  to  the  lower  edge  of  cotton  ponchos,  and  in  such 
long,  narrow  pieces  of  cloth  as  were  used  as  head-bands,  belts, 
etc.  In  these  the  fish  motive  occurs  much  more  frequently  than 
any  other.  The  head  is  triangular,  and  its  identity  not  to  be  mis¬ 
taken  by  any  one  at  all  familiar  with  the  fish-figures  painted  on 
cloth,  or  represented  in  relief  on  pottery  vessels.  The  other  parts 
of  the  design  are  usually  so  arranged  as  to  suggest  the  outline  of 
a  fish,  as  seen  from  above. 

In  the  woven  designs  we  almost  invariably  find  the  pattern 
to  consist  of  the  parts  of  two  fish,  turned  in  opposite  directions, 
making  what  we  may  call  the  “interlocked  fish-design,”  with  the 
whole  so  arranged,  as  I  have  said  above,  as  to  suggest  the  outline 
of  a  fish  as  they  commonly  represented  it  (see  plate  I,  figs.  5-7). 

Where  such  a  wealth  of  material  exists,  it  is  difficult  to  make 
a  selection ;  but  I  have  endeavored  to  picture  such  as  might  be 
called  types  of  a  class,  and  in  the  textiles,  where  their  decorative 


THE  FISH  IN  ANCIENT  PERUVIAN  ART  129 


art  reached  its  highest  development,  to  show  some  few  of  the 
steps  by  which  the  realistic  representation  of  fish  may  have 
degenerated  into  highly  conventionalized  forms.  It  would  of 
course  be  absurd  to  attempt  to  follow  this  degeneration  step  by 
step,  but  I  believe  that  a  sufficient  number  of  figures,  represent¬ 
ing  different  stages,  have  been  given  to  lead  to  the  recognition 
of  the  fish  motive  in  such  higher  conventional  forms  as  are  shown 
in  plate  II,  figs.  1-5. 

It  was  Professor  F.  W.  Putnam  who  first  formulated  and 
clearly  set  forth  the  theory  of  progression  by  degeneration.  This 
was  in  1879.1  His  “Conventionalism  in  Ancient  American  Art”2 
followed  a  few  years  later.  This  latter  contains  a  passage  which 
seems  to  me  so  applicable  to  Peruvian  art  as  we  know  it,  that  I 
give  it  below.  He  says : 

Thus  it  is  that  we  find  in  the  lower  stratum  of  human  development  many 
cooking-vessels,  water-jars,  dishes,  and  other  utensils  made  of  clay,  that  are  of  the 
same  form  and  style  of  ornamentation ;  but  after  the  particular  form  of  vessel 
desired  was  attained,  and  the  early  methods  of  ornament  by  finger-marks,  inden¬ 
tures,  scratches,  cross-lines,  and  the  imprint  of  cord  or  fabric,  had  been  carried  to 
their  full  extent,  one  can  easily  understand  that  something  higher  would  follow. 
This  advanced  step  is  represented  in  various  ways  by  different  prehistoric  peoples, 
but  it  is  when  this  step  is  taken  that  the  imprint  is  given  to  the  art  of  each. 

Among  other  ways,  this  higher  expression  seems  to  be  shown  in  the  realistic 
representation  of  inanimate  and  animal  objects,  often  of  a  mythological  or  his¬ 
torical  character.  In  the  course  of  time,  as  art  attained  increased  power  of 
expression,  it  progressed  beyond  mere  realism,  and  led  to  the  representation  of  an 
object  by  certain  conventional  characters,  without  that  close  adherence  to  nature 
which  was  at  first  necessary  to  a  clear  understanding  of  the  idea  intended  to  be 
conveyed.  Thus  conventionalism  began.  Side  by  side  with  this  conventional 

1 Papers  of  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  History. 

2  Bulletin  of  the  Essex  Institute,  1886. 


130 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


representation  of  objects  are  found  realistic  forms;  conservatism,  which  is 
such  a  strong  characteristic  of  primitive  peoples,  leading  to  both  methods  of 
expression  at  the  same  time. 

We  are  studying  the  decorative  art  of  a  people  who  had  no 
written  language,  and  whose  descendants  retain  little  or  no 
knowledge  that  can  be  of  assistance  to  us.  The  ancient  Peruvians 
have  left  us  a  wealth  of  material  in  the  remains  of  their  struc¬ 
tures  and  in  the  contents  of  their  graves  ;  and  what  is  revealed  by 
these,  together  with  such  information  as  has  been  handed  down 
to  us  by  the  early  writers,  —  Bias  Valera,  Cieza  de  Leon,  Acosta, 
Zarate,  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  Betanzos,  Herrera,  and  a  few 
others,  —  constitutes  our  entire  knowledge  of  this  people. 

The  present  paper  is  based  on  a  study  of  objects  in  the  pre¬ 
historic  Peruvian  collections  now  on  exhibition  in  the  American 
Museum  of  Natural  History,  New  York;  and  from  these  the 
sketches  used  as  illustrations  have  been  made. 

In  cases  where  it  is  evident  that  an  attempt  at  realistic  repre¬ 
sentations  had  been  made,  little  need  be  said,  and  little  can 
be  said  later.  It  is  with  the  conventional  forms  of  their  higher 
decorative  art  that  I  shall  concern  myself  at  present,  and  trust 
that  I  shall  be  able  to  show  conclusively  that  many  of  the  designs 
which  have  hitherto  been  described  as  animal  figures,  designs 
derived  from  animal  figures,  and  the  like,  are,  in  fact,  conven¬ 
tional  fish-forms. 

In  the  attempt  to  establish  the  correctness  of  my  identifica¬ 
tion,  I  shall  begin  with  such  figures  as  are  unmistakably  derived 
from  fish,  and,  by  calling  attention  to  some  intermediate  forms  I 
hope  to  carry  the  eye,  step  by  step  as  it  were,  from  those  that 
depart  but  slightly  from  the  realistic  to  such  as  appear  to  me  to 
have  run  the  whole  gamut  of  degeneration,  and  reached  a  stage 


THE  FISH  IN  ANCIENT  PERUVIAN  ART  131 


unrecognizable  by  one  not  familiar  with  Peruvian  decorative  art 
in  general,  and  its  apparent  methods  of  working  out  ornamental 
designs,  not  only  in  the  textiles,  but  also  in  wood,  stone,  and 
metals. 

Plate  I,  fig.  5,  is  from  a  large  piece  of  coarse  cloth  which 
originally  formed  the  outside  wrapping  of  a  mummy-bundle. 
The  figure  is  painted  in  black,  except  the  openings  at  the  gills 
and  the  fins,  which  have  been  left  white,  the  color  of  the  cloth. 
The  fish  is  represented  as  seen  from  above,  the  six  white  squares 
in  the  center  representing  a  dorsal  fin. 

Fig.  6  shows  another  painted  design  from  the  covering  of  a 
complete  mummy-bundle.  In  this  a  decided  change  has  taken 
place.  The  curved  lines  representing  the  gill-openings  have 
become  straight  lines,  and  parts  of  the  animal  are  represented  by 
zigzags  marking  the  projecting  points  which  are  so  characteristic 
of  most  of  their  conventionalized  forms  of  animals,  particularly 
of  the  bird  and  fish. 

Fig.  7  is  from  a  long  belt  or  sash  of  vicuna  cloth.  The  figure 
is  repeated  a  number  of  times  in  different  colors,  and  is  part  of 
the  woven  fabric.  Although  unmistakably  a  fish,  the  degenera¬ 
tion  has  proceeded  to  the  extent  that  nothing  remains  but  the 
general  form,  eyes,  and  the  characteristic  projecting  points  seen 
in  fig.  6.  In  this  figure,  together  with  figs.  8  and  9,  I  think  we 
will  find  the  key  to  all  the  higher  conventional  forms  of  fish- 
designs  shown  in  the  illustrations. 

Figs.  8  and  9  are  from  vicuna  borders  sewed  to  cotton 
ponchos ;  and,  to  save  repetition,  I  may  say  here  that  all  the  other 
designs  from  cloth,  to  be  described  later,  have  been  taken  from 
similar  borders,  where  they  form  a  part  of  the  woven  fabric. 


132 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


That  these  two  designs  had  their  origin  in  some  fish-form  very- 
similar  to  that  shown  in  fig.  7,  I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt, 
and,  if  we  accept  this  as  a  fact,  I  think  the  way  will  be  clear  to 
the  identification  of  other  forms. 

In  fig.  10  we  have  the  first  example  of  the  interlocked  fish- 
design,  which,  in  some  one  of  its  great  variety  of  forms,  is  oftener 
to  be  met  with  on  the  vicuna  borders  than  any  other  form  of 
ornamentation.  It  will  be  seen  that  two  designs  like  that  shown 
in  fig  8,  with  very  slight  alteration,  will  give,  when  interlocked, 
the  form  we  are  considering. 

Before  proceeding  further,  I  will  call  attention  to  an  impor¬ 
tant  feature  of  Peruvian  decoration  that  applies  particularly  to 
these  vicuna  borders.  This  is  a  rhythmic  repetition  of  six  units, 
each  being  of  the  same  size  and  design,  but  varying  in  color. 
Commonly  each  square,  band,  or  diagonal  bar,  or  any  other  form 
constituting  a  unit,  is  different  in  color  or  colors  from  the  one 
preceding  and  the  one  following  it;  but  it  often  occurs  with  three 
all  colored  alike,  followed  by  three  in  other  colors,  also  alike,  — 
four  of  one  and  two  of  another,  etc.  In  whatever  way  these  units 
are  arranged,  the  next  six  will  be  a  repetition  of  the  first  series; 
and  so  on  indefinitely.  In  another  place  I  have  described  and 
illustrated  this  feature  of  their  art.1 

Fig.  11  shows  one  unit  of  the  six-unit  design  just  described, 
and  is  in  the  form  of  an  irregular  diagonal  bar.  The  colors  are 
red  and  black,  the  latter  color  being  represented  in  the  illustra¬ 
tion  by  shading.  The  bars  on  either  side  of  this  one  have  the 
same  outlines;  but  different  colored  threads  were  used  in  the 


1  The  Six-Unit  Design  in  Ancient  Peruvian  Cloth,  Boas  Anniversary  Volume,  1906. 


Mead — Fish  in  Peruvian  Art 


THE  FISH  IN  ANCIENT  PERUVIAN  ART 


10 


THE  FISH  IN  ANCIENT  PERUVIAN  ART  133 


weaving.  We  see  in  this  the  same  interlocked  fish-pattern  that 
we  had  in  fig.  10,  and  also  two  conventional  fish-heads. 

Plate  2,  fig.  1,  illustrates  another  of  the  almost  endless  vari¬ 
eties  of  the  interlocked  fish-designs.  It  is  also  an  excellent  ex¬ 
ample  of  another  feature  of  their  decoration  which  may  assist  us 
in  the  identification  of  some  obscure  figures.  When  the  central 
design  was  of  such  a  form  as  to  leave  large  surfaces  undecorated, 
these  were  filled  in  with  smaller  figures,  —  either  conventional 
forms  of  the  same  animal  represented  in  the  central  design,  or 
motives  derived  from  it.  In  this  case  we  have  both,  the  three 
small  fish-figures  and  the  highly  conventional  one  directly  over 
the  fish  at  the  lower  left-hand  corner. 

This  latter  form  is  very  common  in  Peruvian  art,  especially 
in  the  treatment  of  bird-figures,  where  the  head  and  neck  are 
often  fairly  realistic,  with  the  other  parts  represented  by  a  broad 
line  of  color,  one  side  of  which  is  straight  and  the  other  bounded 
by  a  zigzag,  as  is  the  case  in  this  fish  motive. 

Fig.  2  is  from  a  poncho  of  alpaca  wool.  It  represents  a 
pelican  (?)  with  a  fish  in  its  mandibles,  and  it  will  be  seen  that 
this  fish-figure  is  identical  with  the  three  in  the  preceding  illus¬ 
tration. 

Figs.  3  and  4  show  forms  where  the  entire  designs,  with  the 
exception  of  the  eyes  and  dots,  are  made  by  continuous  lines. 
After  a  study  of  the  preceding  forms,  particularly  those  on  plate 
1,  figs.  8  and  9,  I  think  there  would  be  no  hesitation  in  identify¬ 
ing  these  as  other  forms  of  the  interlocked  fish-design. 

In  fig.  3  we  have,  perhaps,  the  most  obscure  of  these  conven¬ 
tional  animal  figures.  This  obscurity  arises  largely,  as  I  think, 
from  the  angular  appearance  of  the  figures.  We  have,  how- 


134 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


ever,  but  to  change  the  outlines  of  these  heads  to  straight  lines  to 
obtain  practically  the  same  forms  that  are  shown  at  the  bottom  of 
plate  i.  It  is  very  possible  that  the  step-form  figures  opposite  the 
heads  may  represent  tails,  as  we  have  seen  that  conventionalized 
parts  of  the  animal  represented  were  often  introduced  into  these 
designs.  However,  from  the  form  of  the  heads  alone,  I  have  no 
hesitation  in  identifying  these  figures  as  motives  derived  from 
the  fish. 

Fig.  6,  interlocked  fish-design,  in  relief,  from  a  pottery  ves¬ 
sel.  As  we  would  expect,  these  figures  are  less  highly  conven¬ 
tionalized  than  those  of  the  woven  fabrics.  That  this  was  a 
favorite  design  is  shown  by  the  frequency  with  which  it  appears, 
not  only  in  the  cloth,  but  on  other  materials,  particularly  on 
pottery  and  gourd  vessels. 

Fig.  7  is  from  a  border  of  vicuna  cloth,  and  shows  one  of 
the  many  designs  in  which  conventional  fish  and  bird  forms  are 
so  often  combined.  It  may  be  said  that,  aside  from  geometrical 
figures,  all  the  designs  on  these  borders,  with  very  rare  excep¬ 
tions,  are  derived  from  three  animal  forms:  the  fish,  the  bird,  and 
some  species  of  the  cat  family  (jaguar?)  ;  and  that  two  of  these 
are  often  combined,  and  in  some  cases  all  three  appear  in  the 
same  design. 

Fig.  8  is  a  gourd  bowl  about  six  inches  in  diameter,  with  the 
design  burned  in.  Examples  of  decoration  by  pyrography  are 
numerous  in  any  large  collection  from  the  coast  region,  and  it 
was  the  medium  commonly  employed  on  gourd  vessels,  many  of 
them  showing  work  of  no  mean  order.  In  this  interlocked  fish- 
design,  although  the  workmanship  is  crude,  we  have  again  the 


Mead — Fish  in  Peruvian  Art 


Plate  II 


11 


the  fish  IN  ANCIENT  PERUVIAN  ART 


THE  FISH  IN  ANCIENT  PERUVIAN  ART  135 


triangular  head,  with  the  other  parts  represented  by  a  straight 
line  and  a  zigzag. 

Figs.  9  and  10  are  from  painted  figures  on  pottery  vessels. 
Fig.  9,  evidently  representing  a  shark,  is  fairly  realistic  in  its  out¬ 
line.  Fig.  10  has  the  characteristic  triangular  head  so  common 
to  fish-figures  on  pottery  vessels.  Heads  of  this  form  will  be 
found  in  fig.  4. 

Fig.  11  shows  a  pottery  water-jar.  The  front  part  of  the 
vessel  represents  a  ledge  of  rocks  rising  from  the  water.  Near 
the  top  of  this  ledge  sits  a  fisherman  who  has  hooked  a  large  fish, 
and,  the  better  to  hold  it,  has  taken  a  turn  of  his  line  about  the 
highest  point.  On  the  other  side  of  this  vessel,  on  the  lowest 
shelf  of  the  rock,  are  representations  of  a  seal  and  a  large  sea- 
shell.  This  is  one  of  the  many  attempts  to  depict  scenes  in  their 
daily  life. 

Fig.  12,  a  mythological  monster  (part  fish,  part  man),  is 
from  a  painting  on  a  pottery  vessel.  This  figure  is  found  on  a 
number  of  vessels,  and  is  usually  represented  as  in  pursuit  of  two 
men  in  a  balsa. 

Fig.  13  represents  the  upper  part  of  a  pottery  water-vessel. 
The  fish-figure  around  the  eye  shows  a  form  of  facial  painting. 

A  few  words  remain  to  be  said  concerning  the  illustrations 
on  plate  1,  which  have  not  yet  been  described.  Fig.  1  is  a  pen¬ 
dant,  three  inches  in  length,  cut  from  shell.  Although  many  of 
its  parts  are  conventionalized,  it  presents,  on  the  whole,  quite  a 
realistic  appearance.  Fig.  2  is  a  fish  cast  in  bronze;  it  forms 
the  head  of  the  handle  of  a  small  bronze  implement.  Fig.  3 
shows  one  of  the  many  pottery  vessels  modeled  into  fish-forms,  — 
a  form  extremely  common  with  the  coast  peoples.  Fig.  4  is  a 


136  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


small  wooden  vessel.  These  wooden  fish  vessels  are  found  in 
considerable  numbers  in  the  graves,  especially  in  the  work- 
baskets  of  the  women.  They  were  probably  used  as  rests  for 
spindles  while  twirling  them. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  various 
theories  concerning  the  origin  and  development  of  art.  I  have 
simply  said  that  the  theory  of  development  by  degeneration 
seemed  to  me  the  most  natural  one.  Another  theory  claims 
that  from  marks  and  scratches  a  steady  progression  took  place, 
culminating  in  highly  complex  forms  and  realistic  representa¬ 
tions;  and  still  another,  that  both  these  processes  were  active  at 
one  and  the  same  time.  I  have  no  quarrel  with  any  of  these 
theories;  all  may  be  right,  and  all  may  be  wrong. 

I  do  not  claim  to  have  discovered  in  these  designs  any  series 
representing  an  historical  sequence.  My  object  has  been  to  show 
to  what  extent  fish-forms  appear  in  all  the  arts  of  the  prehis¬ 
toric  peoples  of  Peru,  and  to  attempt  the  identification  of  some 
of  the  conventionalized  animal  figures. 

American  Museum  of  Natural  History 
New  York 


A  STUDY  OF  PRIMITIVE  CULTURE  IN  OHIO 


BY 

Warren  K.  Moorehead 

IT  is  nearly  thirty  years  since  Professor  Frederic  Ward  Put¬ 
nam  began  his  archaeological  explorations  in  the  southern 
part  of  Ohio.  Previous  to  his  investigations,  in  the  period 
1805-20,  Caleb  Atwater  examined  the  earthworks  and  mounds, 
and  the  results  of  his  observations  were  published  in  1820. 1 
Atwater  labored  under  many  disadvantages,  but  he  prepared  the 
way  for  Squier  and  Davis,2  whose  explorations  were  much  more 
extended,  and  have  been  the  subject  of  no  little  controversy. 

No  thorough  scientific  work  in  Ohio  archaeology  was  done 
until  Professor  Putnam  took  the  field;  but,  from  the  date  of  his 
first  mound  exploration  until  the  present  time,  real  progress  in 
archaeology  has  been  more  or  less  continuous.  It  is  not  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  the  writer  to  deal  with  the  extensive  explorations  in  de¬ 
tail,  but  to  draw  certain  conclusions  based  on  the  researches  of 
several  investigators  of  the  archaeology  of  Ohio. 

So  much  material  is  now  on  exhibition  in  Cambridge, 
Columbus,  Chicago,  Washington,  and  Salisbury,  England 
(where  the  Squier  and  Davis  collection  is  preserved),  —  not  to 
mention  other  places,  —  that  it  seems  proper  that  one  should 


*  Archttologia  Americana ,  Worcester,  1820. 

*  Ancient  Monuments  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  Washington,  1846. 


138  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


venture  to  attempt  the  interpretation,  or  at  least  to  point  out  the 
trend,  of  the  evidence  accumulated. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  no  given  area  in  the  United 
States  contains  more  earthen  monuments  than  southern  Ohio. 
Furthermore,  no  section  has  been  the  subject  of  so  much  “mound 
digging”  by  individuals  as  well  as  by  scientific  institutions.  The 
museums  are  full  of  Ohio  material,  and  the  writer  is  familiar 
with  at  least  twoscore  collections  that  are  on  exhibition  and 
which  contain  objects  from  tumuli.  Such  an  array  of  witnesses, 
while  varying  as  to  minor  details,  must  of  necessity  present  testi¬ 
mony  pointing  to  certain  general  conclusions.  If  it  is  not  pos¬ 
sible  for  us  to  indicate  today  the  types  of  prehistoric  culture  of 
southern  Ohio,  then  have  we  indeed  labored  in  vain. 

The  evidence  accumulated  makes  it  clear  to  the  writer  that 
in  southern  Ohio  three  separate  types  of  culture  existed. 

It  is  well  established  that  there  was  a  culture  peculiar  to  the 
hill  enclosures,  and  another  and  higher  one  represented  by  the 
geometric  works  in  the  broad  valleys.  Professor  W.  C.  Mills 
has  coined  the  terms  “Fort  Ancient  Culture”  for  the  former,  and 
“Hopewell  Culture”  for  the  latter.  These  names  being  expres¬ 
sive,  are  accepted.  A  third,  however,  should  be  added,  “Glacial 
Kame  Culture.”  The  writer  is  convinced  that  the  numerous 
interments  in  the  gravel-hills  of  southern  and  central  Ohio,  and 
the  peculiar  artifacts  found  therein,  indicate  the  presence  of  an¬ 
other  type  of  tribal  culture. 

Shortly  after  Professor  Putnam  began  his  work  in  Ohio, 
there  became  evident  a  tendency,  on  the  part  of  some  other  ob¬ 
servers,  to  doubt  the  statements  of  Squier  and  Davis.  Much 
time  was  spent  in  resurveying  the  earthworks,  and  discrepancies 


STUDY  OF  PRIMITIVE  CULTURE  IN  OHIO  139 


between  the  measurements  of  Squier  and  Davis  and  those  of 
later  surveyors  were  emphasized.  It  was  even  doubted  that 
Squier  and  Davis  had  found  so  many  remarkable  carvings,  cop¬ 
per  objects,  effigies,  and  the  like.  Others  thought  the  famous 
deposit  of  two  hundred  effigy  pipes  indicated  white  man’s  influ¬ 
ence,  and  that  the  pipes  had  been  carved  with  iron  tools. 

In  the  light  of  recent  discoveries  at  the  Turner  group,  where 
Professor  Putnam  found  a  number  of  well-made  effigies  in  terra¬ 
cotta  and  copper;  at  Chillicothe,  where  Professor  Mills  brought 
to  light  delicate  effigy  pipes,  bone  carvings,  copper  objects, 
etc.;  and  at  the  Hopewell  group,  which  has  yielded  thousands 
of  beautiful  objects  in  copper,  shell,  obsidian,  pearl,  bone,  and 
mica,  we  see  the  culture  of  the  lower  Scioto  in  its  true  light. 
Squier  and  Davis  were  right  in  their  contention  that  it  was 
a  life  quite  different  from  that  of  the  later  Indians.  We  may 
not  now  subscribe  to  their  enthusiastic  claim  that  it  was  a  civ¬ 
ilization;  but  we  must  accord  them  a  full  meed  of  praise,  for 
they  discerned,  more  than  sixty  years  ago,  that  the  culture  was 
peculiar  and  distinctive.  It  can  be  proven  that  the  culture  was 
local;  that  is,  it  prevailed  for  a  hundred  miles  along  the  Scioto, 
beginning  at  Columbus  and  extending  to  Portsmouth.  Between 
the  Scioto  and  the  Miamis  it  did  not  extend.  Yet  in  the  lower 
Little  Miami,  a  few  miles  above  Cincinnati,  was  the  Turner 
group,  which  belongs  to  the  Hopewell  culture.  The  Serpent 
Mound  does  not  belong,  the  writer  is  persuaded,  to  the  Hope- 
well  culture,  but  rather  to  the  Fort  Ancient  division.  This 
statement,  however,  may  be  premature. 

What  Professor  Putnam  originally  termed  the  brachy- 
cephalic  and  dolichocephalic  peoples  may  now  be  said  to  de- 


140 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


scribe  the  people  of  the  Hopewell  and  Fort  Ancient  cultures; 
but,  since  his  last  work  in  the  Scioto,  much  light  has  been  shed  on 
the  history  of  these  two  prehistoric  peoples.  A  fairly  continuous 
exploration,  ably  begun  by  Dr  C.  L.  Metz  at  Madisonville,  and 
much  digging  at  Fort  Ancient,  prove  that  these  two  are  of  the 
Fort  Ancient  culture.  The  objects  found  in  these  localities  are 
not  of  the  Hopewell  type  in  any  sense.  Little  copper  is  found; 
the  pottery  exhibits  a  homogeneous  character  and  motive  in  orn¬ 
amentation.  The  burials  are  totally  different  from  those  of  the 
Hopewell  culture,  and  mound  groups  and  altars  do  not  occur. 
The  very  character  of  the  works  is  unlike  that  of  the  geometric 
enclosures  of  the  Scioto. 

We  may  next  consider  the  types  and  characteristics  of  the 
mounds  themselves. 

Squier  and  Davis  divided  their  tumuli  into  certain  classes, 
and  Professor  Putnam  made  clearer  and  more  accurate  the  de¬ 
marcation  of  these  groups.  We  now  observe  that  there  are  altar 
and  conical  and  other  mounds;  that  the  oblong,  or  oval,  or  altar 
mounds  were  erected  upon  hard  burned  floors,  which  had  been 
carefully  prepared;  that  gutters  or  trenches  are  observed  on  the 
bases  of  some  of  these;  that  pens  or  small  enclosures  were  built 
around  certain  of  the  bodies  interred.  All  this,  which,  no  doubt, 
carried  peculiar  ceremonial  significance,  is  observed  in  certain 
of  the  large  mound  groups  associated  with  the  valley  works. 
No  such  mounds  are  found  on  the  hills,  no  such  works  crown 
the  higher  hills  overlooking  the  Scioto,  although  they  occur 
on  the  high  terraces  of  that  stream.  Farther  back  in  the  hills, 
some  distance  from  the  river,  the  mounds  become  smaller.  In 
Adams,  Pike,  and  Highland  counties  there  are  numerous  stone 


STUDY  OF  PRIMITIVE  CULTURE  IN  OHIO  141 


graves,  manifestly  of  Fort  Ancient  culture.  No  copper,  no 
obsidian,  no  effigies,  are  to  be  discovered  there.  The  skilled 
archaeologist  has  but  to  examine  the  artifacts  from  these  two 
distinct  regions  —  or,  if  you  please,  from  a  mound  in  the  Scioto 
valley  itself  and  from  one  back  a  few  miles  —  to  note  their  con¬ 
trast.  What  does  this  mean?  Simply  that  the  people  repre¬ 
sented  by  the  Hopewell  culture  were  surrounded  by  others  char¬ 
acterized  by  the  ruder  Fort  Ancient  culture.  No  other  explan¬ 
ation  will  fit  the  conditions,  as  would  appear  from  observations 
made  in  the  field  and  on  museum  specimens. 

The  valleys  of  Paint  creek  and  North  Fork  of  Paint  creek, 
wide  of  bottom  and  rich  in  black  soil,  are  filled  with  groups 
of  mounds;  but  near  the  heads  of  these  streams  one  observes, 
as  the  valleys  narrow,  small  tumuli  and  typical  hill-top  fortifi¬ 
cations.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  one  people  would,  in  the 
same  region,  exhibit  two  kinds  of  culture  in  their  monuments 
and  in  their  arts. 

The  third  culture,  and  the  one  to  which  no  one  save  the 
writer  seems  to  have  given  much  thought,  is  that  of  the  Glacial 
Kame.  Often,  when  traveling  about  the  state  in  past  years,  his 
attention  has  been  called  by  farmers  to  gravel-pits  in  which 
human  skeletons  had  been  found.  As  all  observers  know,  bones 
deposited  in  gravel  are  preserved  almost  indefinitely.  Investi¬ 
gation  of  many  such  burials,  and  the  history  of  others,  bring  to 
light  interesting  facts.  Tubular  pipes,  cannel-coal  ornaments, 
long,  slender  unio-shell  gorgets,  tubes  of  slate,  and  hematite 
plummets  abound.  The  theory  built  by  the  writer  upon  this  evi¬ 
dence  is  as  follows. 


142 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


No  one  disputes  that  the  gravel-deposits  of  southern  Ohio, 
especially  those  rounded  or  oval,  and  usually  mound-shaped, 
were  deposited  during  the  flooding  of  the  country  in  a  glacial 
period.  These  hills  may  have  been  more  or  less  irregular  at  first, 
but  gradually  erosion  rounded  them.  They  are  usually  found 
in  the  natural  although  small  prairies  of  southern  Ohio.  It  is 
not  to  be  supposed  that  man  on  his  arrival  in  the  Ohio  valley 
began  the  construction  of  mounds  or  earthworks.  The  rounded, 
graceful  slopes  of  the  glacial  knolls  may  have  suggested  to  him, 
presently,  the  building  of  mounds.  Moreover,  digging  in  these 
gravel-hills  was  easy.  The  outlook  from  the  top  of  the  knoll 
was  attractive. 

Although  the  tribe  that  buried  in  the  Glacial  Karnes  is 
classed  by  the  writer  as  distinct  from  the  other  two  cultures,  yet 
it  is  possible  (although  perhaps  not  probable)  that  these  people 
may  later  have  become  the  carriers  of  the  Fort  Ancient  culture. 
It  is  to  be  supposed,  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  there  was  a  long 
process  of  development  in  both  the  Fort  Ancient  and  the  Hope- 
well  people,  and  that  small  and  isolated  works  were  built  by 
them  before  they  learned  to  construct  the  larger  hill-works  and 
the  more  complicated  valley  enclosures. 

Dr  Cyrus  Thomas,  in  his  admirable  studies  in  archaeology, 
has  thought  that  the  Cherokee  were  responsible  for  some  of  the 
Ohio  earthworks.  He  has  also  suggested  that  the  graves  at  Fort 
Ancient  were  of  the  same  character  as  those  of  the  Shawnee. 
The  writer  has  presented  elsewhere  detailed  observations 1  to 
prove  that  the  graves  at  Fort  Ancient  differ  in  character  from 
those  of  the  Shawnee;  that  there  are  no  graves  of  Fort  Ancient 

1  Fort  Ancient  ( Phillips  Academy,  Department  of  Archeology,  Bulletin  IV,  part  II, 
Andover,  1908). 


STUDY  OF  PRIMITIVE  CULTURE  IN  OHIO  143 


type  at  the  several  Chillicothes  in  Ohio  (the  Chillicothes,  as 
readers  are  aware,  being  sites  of  historic  Shawnee  towns)  ;  that 
the  exhaustive  explorations  at  Madisonville  have  produced  Fort 
Ancient  culture,  and  nothing  resembling  that  of  Shawnee.  If 
Cherokee  were  the  ancestors  of  the  Ohio  mound-builders,  the 
Ohio  mounds  must  have  been  very  old,  for  Cherokee  art  and 
Southern  art  are  totally  different  from  Hopewell  art.  Profes¬ 
sor  Putnam  found  nothing  at  the  Turner  group  to  indicate  Cher¬ 
okee  influence,  and  Professor  Mills  has  exhumed  no  specimens 
that  could  be  interpreted  as  belonging  to  or  as  influenced  by 
Cherokee  culture.  Cherokee  pipes  are  the  antithesis  of  Scioto 
mound  pipes. 

Thus  we  are  led  to  the  important  problem  of  the  origin  of 
the  Hopewell  and  Fort  Ancient  cultures.  The  Fort  Ancient 
culture  is  not  yet  to  be  definitely  placed,  and  its  origin  is  so 
enshrouded  in  mystery  that  one  may  not  even  theorize  regard¬ 
ing  it.  It  may  perhaps  be  of  northern  origin.  The  Hopewell 
culture  can  not  yet  be  accounted  for  in  all  its  details.  Future 
explorations  will  add  to  the  sum  of  knowledge,  and  will 
solve  many  problems.  But  sufficient  progress  has  been  made  to 
show  that  the  Hopewell  culture  was  of  southern  origin.  The 
writer’s  theory  is  based  on  the  following  evidence,  and  facts 
accumulated  through  the  explorations  of  all  investigators  who 
have  examined  the  valley  mound  groups  of  the  Scioto  region. 

The  statement  that  the  Hopewell  culture  is  confined  to  a 
restricted  area  is  one  of  great  importance,  and  deserves  more  than 
passing  comment.  On  the  site  of  Cincinnati  and  of  Portsmouth 
and  Marietta,  that  culture  was  almost  as  much  in  evidence  as  at 


!44 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


the  Turner  group  and  the  Hopewell  group  itself.  Between 
Cincinnati  and  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto  (more  than  a  hundred 
miles  by  river),  and  between  the  Scioto  and  the  Muskingum 
(nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles) ,  there  are  no  sites  represent¬ 
ing  the  Hopewell  culture:  at  least,  none  have  been  discovered 
up  to  the  present.  The  village-sites  indicate  that  the  inhabitants 
of  this  area  were  of  Fort  Ancient  culture.  Particularly  is  this 
true  of  an  immense  village-site  (and  the  word  is  no  exaggeration) 
between  Aurora  and  Lawrenceburg,  Indiana,  and  below  Aurora, 
where,  along  the  Ohio,  there  is  a  site  continuous  for  three  miles. 

Along  the  Ohio  river,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha  to 
the  Mississippi,  there  are  numerous  evidences  of  camp  and  vil¬ 
lage  sites.  It  is  remarkable  that  although  Hopewell  culture 
existed  at  the  mouths  of  the  Little  Miami,  Scioto,  and  Muskin¬ 
gum,  it  is  doubtful  whether  it  was  represented  at  the  mouths 
of  other  streams.  The  village  at  the  Wabash,  1  thoroughly  ex¬ 
plored  by  the  writer,  marks  the  farthest  extension  north  of  south¬ 
ern  pottery  and  ornaments.  The  Ohio  was  the  natural  highway 
for  all  Indians  passing  east  or  west,  and,  for  that  matter,  the 
tributary  streams  furnished  thoroughfares  north  or  south.  To 
the  writer’s  mind  it  seems  certain  that  the  Hopewell  people, 
being  more  sedentary,  sought  sites  back  from  the  river;  hence, 
their  location  about  sixty  miles  up  the  Scioto  and  a  hundred 
miles  up  the  Muskingum  (Newark  group).  The  only  excep¬ 
tions  are  the  three  sites  mentioned  before,  situated  at  the  mouths 
of  rivers,  where,  probably,  the  village  was  strong  enough  to 
protect  itself  from  outside  interference.  The  Ohio  being  very 

1 A  Narrative  of  Explorations  ( Phillips  Academy,  Department  of  Archeology, 
Bulletin  ill,  Andover,  1906). 


STUDY  OF  PRIMITIVE  CULTURE  IN  OHIO  145 


wide,  war-parties  passing  up  or  down  could  easily  keep  out  of 
range  of  the  bowmen  of  the  Hopewell  villages. 

Local  chert  and  Tennessee  and  Indiana  flint  abound  on  these 
Fort  Ancient  culture  sites  on  the  Ohio  river;  but  most  of  the 
projectile  points  and  knives  seem  to  have  been  made  of  flint  from 
Flint  Ridge.  This  material  is  easily  distinguished  from  other 
varieties,  excepting  that  from  Coshocton  (which  is  an  extension 
of  Flint  Ridge),  by  its  peculiar  character. 

The  quarries  of  Flint  Ridge  have  every  appearance  of  hav¬ 
ing  been  worked  in  times  of  antiquity.  There  is  nothing  to  indi¬ 
cate  their  recent  exploitation.  It  would  certainly  have  been 
mentioned  by  some  of  the  early  explorers  had  this  flint  been  made 
use  of  by  the  natives  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  Flint 
Ridge  stone  occurs  also  on  the  Hopewell  sites,  but  not  so  fre¬ 
quently  as  about  Fort  Ancient  sites. 

In  one  of  the  mounds  of  the  Hopewell  group  were  found 
upward  of  eight  thousand  flint  discs  as  large  as  a  man’s  hand. 
These  appear  to  have  come  from  the  quarries  on  Little  river,  a 
tributary  of  the  Cumberland  in  northern  Tennessee.  This  is 
indicative,  to  the  writer,  of  a  southern  origin  of  the  Hopewell 
culture.  The  entire  mass  of  flint  in  this  mound  weighed  two 
tons.  Its  transportation  in  canoes  from  the  quarry  necessi¬ 
tated  a  journey  of  seven  or  eight  hundred  miles.  A  few  flint 
discs  from  the  region  in  question  might  have  been  brought  in 
accidentally,  as  were  a  few  hundredweight  of  ocean  shells, 
shark’s  teeth,  beads,  etc.  But  the  vast  mass  of  nodular  flint, 
brought  from  a  distance,  seems  to  indicate  southern  origin.  It 
is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  natives  would  rather  carry  four 
thousand  pounds  of  Flint  Ridge  flint  to  Licking  river,  and  thence 


146  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


down  the  Muskingum  and  the  Ohio  to  the  Scioto,  and  northward 
to  the  Hopewell  village.  The  Flint  Ridge  material  is  superior 
to  that  from  Tennessee,  and  the  distance  that  it  had  to  be  carried 
is  eighty-five  miles  overland,  or  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  by  water.  The  importation  of  Tennessee  flint  is,  therefore, 
significant. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  in  suggesting  southern  origin  for 
the  Hopewell  people,  that  they  came  north  in  recent  times;  else 
their  pipes  and  sculptures  would  have  been  of  Etowah  or  Green¬ 
ville  or  other  characteristic  southern  types.  Their  ornaments 
and  “problematical  forms”  would  also  have  been  of  southern 
types;  and  the  “spud-shaped”  forms  would  have  been  present, 
together  with  artifacts  peculiar  to  the  South.  The  human 
figures  (idols  as  well  as  pipes)  found  by  Squier  and  Davis,  Pro¬ 
fessors  Putnam  and  Mills,  and  the  writer,  bear  striking  resem¬ 
blance  to  one  another,  and  are  peculiar  to  the  Hopewell  culture. 
The  features  defy  verbal  description,  and  they  evidently  portray 
the  ancient  natives  of  mound-building  days.  Students  will  do 
well  to  compare  them  with  modern  Indian  sculptures. 

Form  and  workmanship  of  chipped  implements  are  more  or 
less  alike  in  Tennessee  and  Ohio,  and  yet  there  are  well-defined 
differences.  The  best  pottery  from  the  Scioto  valley  tumuli  is 
not  inferior  to  southern  mound  pottery;  yet  little  of  it  has  been 
found,  and  pottery-making  seems  to  have  become  a  lost  art  in  the 
North.  The  presence  of  shells,  shark’s  teeth,  mica,  and  other 
substances  from  the  South,  indicate  aboriginal  trade. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  when  we  speak  of  the  Turner, 
Portsmouth,  and  Newark  finds  as  representing  Hopewell  cul¬ 
ture,  we  assume  the  people  living  in  these  villages  to  have  been 


STUDY  OF  PRIMITIVE  CULTURE  IN  OHIO  147 


the  same  as  those  of  the  Hopewell  group,  yet  they  seem  to  have 
lived  for  a  certain  length  of  time  on  these  sites,  and  have  devel¬ 
oped  local  peculiarities.  It  is  unfortunate  that  the  works  at 
Marietta  and  Cincinnati  were  destroyed  so  long  ago  that  a  major 
portion  of  the  forms  exhumed  have  been  lost;  but  we  have  suffi¬ 
ciently  accurate  descriptions,  in  records  of  explorations,  to  place 
them  safely  in  this  culture  group.  The  best  workers  in  copper 
lived  at  the  Hopewell  and  other  Ross  county  groups;  but  the 
natives  at  the  Turner  site  excelled  in  the  execution  of  delicate 
terra-cotta  figures.  The  fact  that  there  are  some  differences  in 
art,  is  an  indication  of  considerable  population  at  each  site  and 
of  sufficiently  long  residence  to  develop  “local  color.” 

The  question  of  age  of  these  remains  is,  naturally,  interest¬ 
ing,  but  it  is  for  future  archaeologists  to  solve.  Nothing  definite 
at  present  can  be  affirmed.  Yet,  while  it  is  far  from  the  writer’s 
purpose  to  prophesy,  he  would  like  to  indicate  several  facts  and 
comment  upon  them  in  detail.  After  several  explorations  of 
Fort  Ancient,  amounting  to  nearly  a  year  in  time,  the  opinion 
was  ventured  that  Fort  Ancient  was  at  least  eight  hundred  years 
old.  A  study  of  the  three  mounds  at  Frankfort,  Ross  county, 
Ohio,  reveals  a  peculiar  condition.  At  Frankfort  was  one  of  the 
Shawnee  Chillicothes,  inhabited  in  historic  times.  The  burials 
are  in  trenches  or  in  ordinary  graves.  On  the  same  site  are  sev¬ 
eral  mounds  and  an  earthwork,  now  nearly  obliterated.  Yet  the 
Shawnee  seemed  to  have  lived  in  ignorance  of  the  occupancy 
of  the  region  by  an  earlier  and  different  culture.  There  was 
one  intrusive  burial  in  the  top  of  one  of  the  mounds,  but  the 
other  mounds  contained  nothing  of  modern  origin,  and  on  the 
base-line  of  each  were  found  skeletons,  copper  objects,  land 


148  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


pearl  beads,  indicating  Hopewell  culture.  Squier  and  Davis 
often  noted  these  intrusive  or  recent  burials.  No  competent 
observer  could  mistake  the  disturbed  strata  and  the  modern  char¬ 
acter  of  the  grave. 

The  Hopewell  group  itself  was  distant  no  more  than  seven 
miles  from  the  Chillicothe  noted  above,  and  but  sixteen  miles 
from  Cornstalk  Town  on  Sippo  creek,  Pickaway  county.  Yet 
the  Shawnee,  or  other  recent  Indians,  for  that  matter,  never  lived 
at  the  Hopewell  group.  Their  residence  at  Frankfort  had  no 
relation  to  these  prehistoric  remains.  Not  only  are  the  Shawnee 
burials  very  different  from  those  of  the  Hopewell  or  Fort 
Ancient  culture,  but  their  appearance  is  such  that  even  inexpe¬ 
rienced  observers  will  notice  the  contrast. 

One  must  not  neglect  to  state  that,  although  from  our  his¬ 
toric  records  we  know  that  large  numbers  of  Indians  lived  on 
all  of  these  sites,  yet  the  evidences  of  their  occupancy  are  today 
exceedingly  scant.  The  writer  has  frequently  called  attention 
to  this  fact.  The  prehistoric  sites  contain  many  times  more 
material  on  the  surface  and  in  the  mounds  than  do  historic  sites. 
All  of  this  may  seem  very  simple,  yet  it  is  of  great  moment,  and 
carries  a  definite  meaning.  Hundreds  of  Indians  lived,  and 
we  know  that  they  did,  on  each  of  the  Chillicothes ;  yet,  after 
an  entire  day  spent  in  searching  the  fields,  the  archaeologist  may 
find  three  or  four  bullets,  pieces  of  metal,  and  a  few  gun-flints. 
May  he  not  draw  conclusions,  when  he  inspects  precolumbian 
sites  in  the  same  region,  and  is  able  to  pick  up  in  a  day’s  hunt 
more  unfinished  or  broken  stone  implements  than  he  can  carry? 

The  natural-history  method  applied  to  a  study  of  these  sites 
will  go  far  toward  establishing  their  age.  This  does  not  imply 


STUDY  OF  PRIMITIVE  CULTURE  IN  OHIO  149 


that  we  are  to  determine  exact  dates;  but,  as  has  been  intimated, 
certain  fields,  from  the  very  abundance  of  material  in  sight,  give 
evidence  of  long  occupancy  by  stone-age  people  in  the  past.  A 
site  in  Greene  county,  Ohio,  will  furnish  similar  material  to  that 
picked  up  in  Ross  county  on  an  equally  large  village  place,  yet 
there  will  be  differences.  For  instance,  in  Greene  county  there 
are  broad,  thick  spears,  of  oval  outline,  chipped  from  Flint  Ridge 
flint.  They  are  usually  of  colored  flint,  the  pink  and  white  pre¬ 
dominating,  and  always  finely  chipped.  In  many  of  them 
the  chipping  has  been  carried  to  such  a  degree  that  the  flakes 
removed  are  exceedingly  minute.  These  specimens  have  always 
appeared  to  the  writer  as  a  well-defined  type  characteristic  of 
this  locality,  but  it  may  be  that  their  distribution  is  more  general. 

In  northern,  eastern,  and  western  Ohio  there  is  no  Hopewell 
culture,  and  one  may  hesitate  to  class  the  sites  as  belonging  to 
the  Fort  Ancient  culture.  Why  Fort  Ancient  and  Hopewell 
cultures  were  not  developed  along  the  lower  Maumee,  or  upon 
the  shores  of  Lake  Erie,  is  not  known.  There  are  some  villages 
on  the  Maumee;  but,  aside  from  that,  there  is  nothing  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  state  to  compare  with  the  sites  mentioned. 

Exhaustive  study  of  sites  and  the  material  found  on  each, 
followed  by  careful  comparisons,  will  make  clearer  the  differ¬ 
ences  between  these  various  cultures. 

The  earthworks  themselves  furnish  the  best  evidence  in 
support  of  the  southern  origin  of  the  Hopewell  culture.  If  the 
Hopewell  people  had  moved  south,  we  may  suppose  that  geo¬ 
metric  works  similar  to  those  of  the  Scioto  would  have  been 
constructed  by  them  in  favorable  spots  in  the  South.  They 
would  have  distributed  copper,  very  valuable  to  them,  more 


150  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

extensively.  They  understood  the  construction  of  mound  groups 
before  coming  north,  and  left  many  such  in  the  South.  A  part 
of  these  people,  possibly  most  of  them,  remained  south.  One 
may  surmise  that  they  did  not  construct  geometrical  works  until 
they  reached  the  country  north  of  the  Ohio  river.  Here,  as  they 
built  mounds,  it  occurred  to  them  to  add  walls,  circles,  octagons, 
etc.  All  of  the  above  is,  it  should  be  understood,  merely  the 
writer’s  opinion.  It  is  quite  likely  that  future  explorations  will 
change  or  expand  our  understanding  of  prehistoric  times ;  but  it  is 
safe  to  assume  that  the  three  cultures  mentioned  have  been  clear¬ 
ly  established,  and  that  the  original  contention  of  Professor  Put¬ 
nam  as  to  the  short-heads  or  southern  people,  and  the  long-heads 
or  Fort  Ancient  people,  has  been  proven. 

Phillips  Academy 
Andover,  Massachusetts 


THE  CRUCIFORM  STRUCTURES  OF  MITLA  AND 

VICINITY 


BY 

Marshall  H.  Saville 


INTRODUCTION 


A  PORTION  of  the  material  contained  in  this  paper  has 
already  been  published  under  the  title  “Cruciform 
Structures  near  Mitla.”  In  view  of  the  fact  that 
other  cruciform  structures  were  found  during  subsequent  ex¬ 
plorations,  and  an  opportunity  was  afforded  to  add  to  and  to  cor¬ 
rect  former  notes,  I  have  thought  best  to  revise,  and  bring  to¬ 
gether  in  a  single  paper,  much  of  what  I  published  before,  mak¬ 
ing  this  a  chapter  of  a  monograph  which  I  hope  to  publish 
later,  giving  a  complete  account  of  the  explorations  of  the  Lou- 
bat  Expedition  at  Mitla. 

During  the  winters  of  1898-99,  1899-00,  1900-01,  1901-02, 
the  Duke  of  Loubat  furnished  funds  for  the  American  Museum 
of  Natural  History  to  make  extensive  archaeological  explora¬ 
tions  in  the  State  of  Oaxaca,  Mexico,  under  the  terms  of  a  conces¬ 
sion  granted  by  the  Mexican  Government,  through  the  kind 
offices  of  President  Diaz.  The  interests  of  the  Mexican  Govern¬ 
ment  were  represented  in  the  field  by  Leopoldo  Batres,  Inspec¬ 
tor  of  Ancient  Monuments.  Two  winters  were  spent  in  excavat¬ 
ing  the  ancient  mounds,  called  mogotes ,  in  the  Valley  of  Oaxaca, 
and  during  two  winters  work  was  carried  on  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  well  known  Temples  of  Mitla. 


152 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


ZAPOTECAN  TOMBS 

In  1898  the  Loubat  Expedition  made  excavations  in  the 
mogotes  at  Xoxo,  about  two  leagues  south  of  the  city  of  Oaxaca.1 
Minor  excavations  were  made  at  the  great  ruined  hill-city  of 
Monte  Alban,  just  south  of  the  city  of  Oaxaca.  Monte 
Alban  is  one  of  the  most  important  and  extensive  ruined 
cities  in  Mexico,  and  during  the  time  when  the  Loubat  Expedi¬ 
tion  was  later  engaged  in  explorations  at  Cuilapa,  the  Inspector 
of  Ancient  Monuments  commenced  a  survey  and  exploration 
at  this  site,  with  very  important  results. 

At  Xoxo  the  Expedition  discovered  a  number  of  interesting 
tombs  in  the  mogotes.  Funeral  urns  of  the  well  known  Zapo- 
tecan  type  were  usually  found  near  the  front  walls  of  the  vaults. 
The  stonework  was  of  an  extremely  simple  type,  and  often 
covered  with  cement  and  stucco  decorations.  Evidence  was 
found  of  a  dome-shaped  cement  covering  of  at  least  one  of  the 
mogotes. 

In  1902  investigations  were  continued  in  the  Valley  of 
Cuilapa,  a  much  larger  group  than  that  at  Xoxo,  and  less 
than  two  miles  southwest  of  Xoxo.  As  in  all  the  groups  of 
mogotes,  those  at  Cuilapa  were  found  to  be  of  two  classes, 
namely,  temple  mounds  and  burial  mounds.  Of  the  former 
class  three  were  explored,  revealing  the  construction  of  the  pyra¬ 
mids,  and  the  foundations  of  old  Zapotecan  temples.  In  the 
burial  mounds,  seven  tombs  and  seven  stone  graves  were  uncov¬ 
ered.  The  tombs  were  of  the  same  general  character  as  the 
tombs  at  Xoxo.  They  are  stone  vaults  which  were  usually  built 

1  A  brief  account  of  the  exploration  of  the  mogotes  at  Xoxo  will  be  found  in  the 
American  Anthropologist,  N.  S.,  I,  no.  2,  1899,  pp.  350  to  362. 


CRUCIFORM  STRUCTURES  OF  MITLA  153 


on  approximately  the  level  of  the  surrounding  fields,  and  after 
interments  had  been  made  the  entrance  to  the  chamber  was 
sealed  by  a  large  stone  (sometimes  by  two  stones),  and  over  the 
tomb  a  solid  structure  of  adobe  bricks,  earth,  and  stones  was 
erected,  strengthened  by  cement  layers  or  floors,  and  undoubtedly 
covered  in  many  cases  by  a  dome-shaped  cement  surface.  In 
one  instance  three  tombs,  facing  respectively  north,  west,  and 
south,  were  found  under  a  cement  floor  or  platform  slightly  raised 
above  the  surrounding  level.  The  burial  chambers  vary  in  size 
and  construction,  and  while  at  Xoxo  those  discovered  faced  the 
west,  in  Cuilapa  tombs  were  found  facing  the  other  points  of 
the  compass.  In  these  vaults  were  many  skeletons  with  the 
usual  food  and  drink  vessels,  incense  burners,  and  many  personal 
ornaments  made  of  jadeite.  In  Xoxo  practically  no  personal 
ornaments  were  found,  but  fragments  of  mosaic  work,  bits  of 
shell,  obsidian,  jadeite,  and  hematite  on  stucco  objects,  were 
obtained.  In  Cuilapa  and  Xoxo  were  found  lintels  with  hiero¬ 
glyphic  inscriptions,  and  mural  paintings  on  the  outer  and  inner 
walls  of  several  tombs.  Terra-cotta  tubing  was  excavated  near 
a  number  of  these  tombs,  and  was  ascertained  to  have  been  used 
for  water  drains.  Drains  made  of  stone  were  also  uncovered 
near  tombs. 

Early  accounts  regarding  the  customs  of  the  Zapotecan 
Indians,  which  have  been  verified  by  the  explorations  of  the 
Loubat  Expeditions,  show  that  their  funeral  ceremonies  were 
as  follows:  When  an  important  person  died,  the  body  was 
dressed  and  placed  in  a  stone  chamber  together  with  various 
personal  ornaments  and  objects  belonging  to  the  deceased.  Food 
and  drink  were  placed  in  or  near  the  tomb  to  sustain  the  de- 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


154 

ceased  on  his  journey  to  the  other  world.  Once  a  year  for  four 
years  his  friends  came  to  the  tomb  and  made  fresh  offerings  of 
food  and  drink.  At  the  expiration  of  this  time  the  flesh  had 
decayed.  Sometimes  the  bones  were  then  gathered  and  placed 
in  niches,  but  otherwise  they  were  allowed  to  remain  on  the 
floor.  Often  they  were  painted  red.  In  some  instances  the 
metate  and  hand-stone  for  grinding  corn,  and  the  clay  griddle 
for  baking  tortillas  or  corn-cakes,  were  placed  in  the  chamber, 
with  numerous  incense  burners.  Then  the  door  was  sealed  with 
a  large  stone,  and  usually  objects  of  value,  such  as  personal  orna¬ 
ments  and  mosaics,  were  thrown  into  the  space  in  front  of  the 
vault.  Probably  some  of  the  offerings  of  food,  drink,  and  in¬ 
cense  were  intended  for  the  deities  whose  effigies  (the  funeral 
urns)  were  placed  near  by,  to  guide  the  spirits  of  the  deceased 
on  their  journey  to  the  other  world.  A  mound  of  earth,  adobe 
brick,  and  stones  was  then  raised  over  the  structure,  and  was 
sometimes  covered  with  a  dome  of  cement.  Nothing  of  the  na¬ 
ture  of  mosaic  stone  work,  similar  to  that  of  the  Mitla  tombs  and 
temples,  was  discovered  in  the  mogotes;  nor  was  such  found  at 
Monte  Alban,  either  by  the  Loubat  Expedition  or  by  Mr  Batres. 
The  mural  paintings  are  also  widely  different  from  those  of 
Mitla. 

MITLA 

During  the  winters  of  1900-01  and  1901-02  the  Loubat  Ex¬ 
pedition  worked  at  Mitla.  The  Mitla  ruins  are  situated  about 
ten  leagues  east  of  the  city  of  Oaxaca.  Since  the  completion  of 
the  Mexican  Southern  Railroad  to  the  city  of  Oaxaca,  several 
years  ago,  the  ruins  have  been  visited  by  hundreds  of  tourists, 


CRUCIFORM  STRUCTURES  OF  MITLA  155 


with  an  increasing  number  of  visitors  each  year.  The  journey 
is  a  comparatively  easy  one,  and  is  best  made  during  the  dry  sea¬ 
son,  between  December  and  April.  Leaving  the  city  of  Puebla 
in  the  early  morning,  the  train  makes  a  gradual  descent  until  a 
tropical  region  is  reached  at  an  elevation  of  about  1700  feet 
above  the  sea.  As  Puebla  is  nearly  8000  feet  in  altitude  and 
Oaxaca  5000,  one  travels  from  the  cold  region  to  the  tropics,  and 
then  into  a  delightful  temperate  zone  in  which  are  situated 
Oaxaca  and  Mitla.  The  latter  part  of  the  journey  is  made 
through  some  of  the  grandest  railroad  scenery  in  the  world.  The 
road  winds  in  and  out  at  the  bottom  of  immense  canyons,  then 
climbing  steep  grades  and  passing  down  into  a  fertile  valley,  the 
train  arrives  at  Oaxaca  in  the  early  evening.  From  Oaxaca  to 
Mitla  the  thirty-mile  carriage  ride  is  over  a  good  road,  and 
the  hacienda  of  Sr  D.  Felix  Quero  at  Mitla  is  one  of  the  most 
delightful  stopping  places  in  Mexico. 

We  find  the  first  mention  of  Mitla  in  the  postcolumbian 
Nahuan  book  known  as  the  Codex  Telleriano  Remensis.  Under 
the  account  of  what  transpired  during  the  reign  of  Ahuizotl,  the 
Aztecan  monarch  who  preceded  Montezuma,  it  is  stated  that, 
“In  the  year  two  rabbits,  which  is  1494,  the  Mexicans  conquered 
the  pueblo  of  Mictlan,  which  is  in  the  province  of  Huaxaca.”  1 
Fray  Diego  Duran  places  the  subjugation  of  Mitla  during  the 
reign  of  Montezuma  the  First.2  The  majority  of  original 
sources  agree  in  placing  his  reign  between  the  years  1440  and 
1454.  The  date  1494  of  the  Codex  Telleriano  Remensis  is,  per- 

1  Codex  Telleriano  Remensis,  Loubat  edition,  1899,  p.  40  reverse. 

2  Duran,  Historia  de  los  Indios  de  Nueva  Espana,  written  between  the  years  1579 
and  1581;  first  published  in  Mexico  in  1867-80. 


156  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


haps,  the  most  trustworthy,  and  is  accepted  by  Gay.1  The  earliest 
mention  of  the  ruins  by  a  Spanish  priest  is  made  by  Motolinia,2 
from  whom  we  learn  that  Father  Martin  de  Valencia  passed 
through  Mitla  some  time  about  the  year  1537.  A  brief  account 
is  given  of  a  temple  containing  a  hall  in  which  are  columns;  and 
it  is  stated  that  the  edifices  are  more  worthy  of  being  seen  than 
any  others  in  New  Spain. 

In  Sahagun’s  great  work  3  we  find  the  statement  that  Quet- 
zalcoatl,  after  leaving  Tecamachalco,  “made  and  built  some 
houses  underground,  which  are  called  Mientlancalco.”  This 
undoubtedly  is  a  misprint,  and  in  Jourdanet’s  translation  into 
French  the  place  is  spelled  Mictlancalco.  As  Bandelier  re¬ 
marks,  “the  subterranean  buildings  agree  very  well  with  the 
architecture  of  Mitla  or  Mictlan.”  4  Torquemada,  who  evidently 
makes  use  of  the  work  of  Motolinia,  writes  that  the  followers 
of  Quetzalcoatl  left  Tullan  offended  and  came  to  Cholullan, 
where  they  lived  many  years  with  their  people;  thence  they 
sent  some  of  their  number  to  Huaxayacac  to  settle  there  as  well 
as  in  the  Mixteca  Alta,  Mixteca  Baja,  and  Tzapotecas,  and  these 
people  are  said  to  have  erected  the  great  and  sumptuous  “Roman” 
edifice  of  Mixtlan.  People  called  Tultecatl,  from  the  name  of 
Tullan,  are  said  to  have  been  great  artificers. 

The  first  extended  account  of  Mitla  is  given  by  Burgoa, 
whose  work  is  exceedingly  rare.3  His  description  of  the  ruins 

1  Gay,  Historia  de  Oaxaca ,  p.  185. 

2  Motolinia,  Historia  de  los  Indios  de  Nueva  Espana,  written  about  1540  and  first 
published  by  Icazbalceta  in  1859. 

3  Sahagun,  Historia  General  de  las  Cosas  de  Nueva  Espana,  tomo,  1,  lib.  3,  cap. 
xiv,  p.  258,  Bustamente  edition,  Mexico,  1829. 

4  Bandelier,  Archaological  Tour  in  Mexico,  Boston,  1884,  p.  264. 

s  Burgoa,  Geografica  Description  de  la  Parte  Septentrional  del  Polo  Artico  de  la 
America,  Mexico,  1674. 


CRUCIFORM  STRUCTURES  OF  MITLA  157 


is  fairly  accurate,  but  has  given  rise  to  the  erroneous  idea  con¬ 
cerning  the  vast  extent  of  the  cruciform  chamber  found  under 
one  of  the  temples,  and  also  that  the  substructures  of  the  build¬ 
ings  contain  subterranean  galleries.  This  is  true  of  but  two 
of  the  structures,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  determine  during 
the  extensive  excavations  which  we  have  carried  on  around  the 
buildings. 

The  place  was  occupied  by  the  Spaniards  soon  after  the 
Conquest.  The  now  famous  Temple  of  the  Columns  was  cer¬ 
tainly  used  either  for  a  dwelling  or  as  a  public  edifice,  and  a 
Spanish  window,  built  of  bricks,  has  existed  until  recent  times  in 
the  eastern  part  of  the  front  wall  of  the  structure.  Several  of 
the  doorways  were  partly  walled  up,  and  remains  of  the  brick 
walls  were  until  recently  still  in  place.  One  of  the  most  im¬ 
portant  edifices,  which  contained  mural  paintings  of  the  utmost 
value,  has  been  partly  demolished,  and  a  church  and  a  curate’s 
house  now  occupy  the  site.  A  number  of  the  rooms  are  still 
intact,  their  beautiful  stonework  disfigured  by  numerous  coats 
of  whitewash,  and  the  court,  in  which  are  the  mural  paintings, 
is  used  as  a  stable! 

The  modern  exploration  of  Mitla  dates  from  1802,  when 
Don  Luis  Martin  and  Col.  de  la  Laguna  visited  the  ruins  and 
made  sketches  of  the  buildings.  It  was  from  their  report  and 
drawings  that  Humboldt  obtained  his  information  concerning 
Mitla.  In  1806  the  great  French  explorer  Guillermo  Dupaix 
and  his  artist  Castaneda  went  to  Mitla  on  their  second  exploring 
tour,  and  the  results  of  this  visit  are  published  in  Antiquites 
Mexicaines ,  Paris,  1834.1 


1  This  text  is  included  also  in  Kingsborough’s  work,  but  there  is  some  discrepancy 


i58  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


In  1830  the  German  traveler  Miihlenpfordt  made  plans  and 
drawings,  the  originals  of  which  are  now  in  the  Museum  in  the 
city  of  Oaxaca.  Copies  were  made  by  Juan  B.  Carriedo,  and 
published  by  him  in  the  Illustracion  Mexicana ,  Vol.  II.  This 
account  was  republished  by  Penafiel  in  his  work,  Monumentos 
del  Arte  Mexicano  Antiguo ,  and  Miihlenpfordt’s  drawings 
are  given  in  the  plates  copied  from  the  originals  in  Oaxaca.* 1 

About  i860  Desire  Charnay,  on  his  first  journey  to  Mexico, 
made  photographs  of  the  principal  edifices,  which  were  pub¬ 
lished  in  1 863. 2  These  photographs,  until  recently,  have  been 
the  basis  for  reproductions  used  in  general  works  upon  the  Mex¬ 
ican  ruins.3 

The  explorations  of  Charnay  were  followed  by  the  visit  of 
Doutrelaine  several  years  later.4  Bandelier,  Ober,  and  Ayme 
came  in  1881. 5  In  1888  Professor  Eduard  Seler  of  Berlin 
copied  the  mural  paintings,  which  were  published  by  him  in 
1895  through  the  liberality  of  the  Duke  of  Loubat.6  They  have 

in  the  two  publications,  both  in  text  and  plates.  Some  material  found  in  one  work  is  not 
given  in  the  other. 

1  Penafiel’s  great  work  was  published  in  Berlin  in  1890,  one  volume  of  text,  in 
Spanish,  French,  and  English,  and  two  volumes  of  plates. 

2  Charnay,  Cites  et  Ruines  Americaines,  Mitla,  Palenque,  Izamal,  Chicken  Itza,  Ux- 
tnal;  recueillies  et  photographiees,  avec  un  texte  par  Viollet-le-Duc,  suivi  du  Voyage  et  des 
Documents  de  l’ Auteur.  Text,  and  Atlas  of  49  photographs. 

3  The  Loubat  Expedition  has  made  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  photographs  in  the 
vicinity  of  Mitla. 

4  Doutrelaine,  Les  Ruines  de  Mitla ,  published  in  Archives  de  la  Commission  Scien- 
tifique  du  Mexique,  Paris,  1867,  Vol.  ill,  pp.  104  to  hi,  with  plates  of  plans  of  the  Temple 
of  the  Columns  and  of  the  Fortress. 

5  Bandelier,  op.  cit. ;  Ober,  Travels  in  Mexico ;  Ayme,  Notes  on  Mitla,  Oaxaca, 
Mexico,  with  plans  and  measurements  of  the  ruins. 

6  Seler,  JVandmalerein  von  Mitla.  Eine  Mexikanische  Bilderschrift  in  Fresko,  Berlin, 
1895.  A  most  valuable  work,  which  contains  a  scholarly  analysis  of  the  deities  depicted 
in  the  frescoes. 


CRUCIFORM  STRUCTURES  OF  MITLA  159 


been  much  defaced  during  the  last  few  years,  since  the  advent 
of  the  tourists,  and  the  colors  are  fast  disappearing. 

In  1895  Professor  W.  H.  Holmes  spent  a  week  at  Mitla, 
with  the  Armour  Expedition,  and  his  work  is  the  most  instructive 
study  and  description  of  the  ruins  that  has  ever  been  made.1 
None  of  these  explorers,  with  the  exception  of  Dupaix,  have 
made  excavations,  and  their  publications  relate  to  the  remains 
above  ground.  During  the  last  century  the  condition  of  the 
buildings  had  deteriorated  to  a  certain  extent,  and  until  recently 
no  attention  has  been  paid  to  them  by  the  Mexican  Government, 
except  to  appoint  a  guardian  to  prevent  flagrant  vandalism. 

In  1900  excavations  for  the  American  Museum  of  Natural 
History  were  made  in  the  vicinity  of  the  famous  “temples,” 
within  a  radius  of  ten  miles  from  east  to  west,  and  about  three 
miles  from  north  to  south.  In  the  valley  in  which  the  Mitla 
ruins  are  situated  are  many  mounds  in  which  excavations  were 
made,  revealing  the  foundations  of  buildings  now  entirely  de¬ 
stroyed;  buildings  partially  destroyed,  in  which  the  rooms  were 
cleaned  out;  and  tombs,  the  walls  of  which  were  of  stone  with 
the  “mosaic”  pattern  seen  in  the  “temples.”  Two  burial  places 
were  discovered,  but  for  their  complete  exploration  more  time 
was  required  than  was  at  the  disposal  of  the  Expedition.  More 
than  thirty  skeletons,  in  a  more  or  less  imperfect  state  of  preserva¬ 
tion,  were  taken  out  of  the  tombs  and  burial  places.  The  door¬ 
ways  of  the  burial  chambers  faced  the  west,  but  there  was  no 
regularity  in  the  manner  of  interring  the  dead. 

The  hills  to  the  east  of  Mitla  were  explored,  and  the  ruins 
investigated  were  designated  Guiaroo,  that  being  the  name  of 

1  Holmes,  Archaeological  Studies  Among  The  Ancient  Cities  of  Mexico,  Chicago, 

1897. 


160  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

the  mountain  which  rises  above  them  to  the  northeast.  Between 
Mitla  and  Guiaroo  is  the  Hacienda  of  Xaaga.  Near  Xaaga 
two  tombs  were  discovered,  and  a  small  adobe  building,  almost 
entirely  destroyed,  was  excavated.  In  the  center  of  the  room 
a  cache  of  120  copper  tau-shaped  objects  was  found;  these  may 
be  cutting  implements,  but  are  generally  regarded  as  money. 
There  is  strong  evidence  showing  their  use  to  have  been  cere¬ 
monial.  In  the  Guiaroo  group,  in  the  foothills,  two  ruined 
adobe  buildings  and  a  cruciform  subterranean  chamber  were 
explored,  and,  for  the  first  time,  were  cleared  of  the  dense  under¬ 
brush  which  covered  them.  These  ruins  were  visited  by  Dupaix 
in  1806  and  the  cruciform  structure  described  by  him.  They 
had  not  been  visited  by  any  other  explorer  since  that  time. 

The  operations  of  the  Expedition  during  the  winter  of  1901 
and  the  most  important  results  obtained  may  be  briefly  summa¬ 
rized  as  follows: 

1  The  courtyards  of  the  groups  of  the  Temple  of  the  Col¬ 
umns  and  the  Cruciform  Tombs  were  cleared  out,  revealing 
the  cement  floors  painted  red. 

2.  The  entrance  to  Cruciform  Tomb  1,  under  the  north 
temple  group  of  the  Cruciform  Tombs,  was  excavated  (see  plate 
in,  1). 

3.  A  new  cruciform  chamber  was  discovered  under  the 
east  temple  group  of  the  Cruciform  Tombs  (see  plates  V-Vlll). 

4.  The  ancient  water  drains  of  the  two  courts  were  dis¬ 
covered  and  cleaned  out.  Each  was  found  in  the  southwestern 
corner  of  the  court. 

5.  It  was  ascertained  that  the  mounds  on  the  south  side  of 
the  court  of  the  group  of  the  Temple  of  the  Columns,  and  the 


CRUCIFORM  STRUCTURES  OF  MITLA  161 


west  side  of  the  court  of  the  group  of  the  Cruciform  Tombs,  were 
platforms  and  not  substructures  for  buildings. 

6.  The  courtyards  were  found  to  be  entirely  closed  and 
were  entered  by  stairways  in  the  above  mentioned  platforms. 
The  platforms  of  the  temples  were  reached  by  flights  of  steps 
from  the  court;  and  in  the  group  of  the  Cruciform  Tombs  three 
small  flights  of  steps  led  up  to  the  platform  from  outside  the 
court. 

7.  The  small  holes  which  occur  in  the  fagades  of  the  tem¬ 
ples,  near  the  doors,  served  to  hold  stone  heads,  one  of  which 
was  found  in  the  debris  at  the  base  of  the  temple;  this  head  is 
shown  in  the  hole  from  which  it  had  fallen,  in  plate  II. 

8.  Mosaic  panels  were  uncovered  in  the  facings  of  the  sub¬ 
structures  corresponding  to  the  panels  in  the  buildings,  making 
a  unit  of  the  substructure  and  the  building  which  it  supported ; 
search  was  made  for  the  famous  subterranean  passage  mentioned 
by  Burgoa.  Inasmuch  as  the  Group  of  the  Temple  of  the  Col¬ 
umns  and  the  Group  of  the  Cruciform  Tombs  are  the  only 
groups  at  Mitla  with  substructures  to  the  temples,  careful  search 
was  made  in  these  substructures  for  concealed  chambers  or  open¬ 
ings  into  subterranean  passages.  With  the  exception  of  the 
Crucifoim  Tomb  found  under  the  east  temple,  and  the  drains 
of  the  two  courts,  no  passages  or  underground  rooms  were  dis¬ 
covered.  The  other  groups  of  temples  at  Mitla  are  built  on  the 
bed-rock.  An  excavation  was  made  in  the  northernmost  room 
of  the  Group  of  the  Curacy.  This  room  is  near  the  base  of  the 
hills,  and  there  was  a  possibility  that  it  might  have  been  placed 
over  the  entrance  to  a  natural  cave.  Several  such  caves  do  exist 
in  the  hills  in  the  northern  part  of  the  valley.  The  excavation 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


162 

of  this  room,  which  corresponds  with  Burgoa’s  account  of  the 
entrance  being  at  the  rear  of  the  “last  hall  with  another  door  at 
the  rear,”  did  not  reveal  the  slightest  trace  of  any  door  or  open¬ 
ing  either  in  the  wall  or  floor.  It  seems,  therefore,  that  we  must 


dispose  of  this  tradition  as  being  on  a  par  with  all  others  of  the 
same  character.  In  connection  with  all  of  the  great  ruins  of 
Mexico  and  Central  America  we  find  just  such  legends  of  under¬ 
ground  passages,  and  as  yet  none  have  been  found. 


Entrance  to  Cruciform  Tomb  No.  1  at  base  of  steps.  Cement  floor  of  court  in  the  foreground 
NORTH  TEMPIyB,  GROUP  OF  THE  CRUCIFORM  TOMBS,  HOOKING  NORTH 


Savii.i.k  Cruciform  Structures 


CRUCIFORM  STRUCTURES  OF  MITLA  163 


CRUCIFORM  TOMB  I 


In  my  former  paper  1  a  brief  account  was  given  of  this 
tomb  in  the  substructure  of  the  north  temple  group  of  the  Cruci¬ 
form  Tombs  (see  figure  1),  in  which  I  followed  the  nomencla¬ 
ture  of  the  sketch  map  of  Mitla  published  by  Professor  W.  H. 
Holmes  in  his  Archeological  Studies  Among  the  Ancient  Cities 
of  Mexico.  The  discrepancy  in  the  measurements  of  some  ex¬ 
plorers  was  noted,  and  the  measurements  of  Miihlenpfordt  were 
considered  to  be  the  most  nearly  correct.  I  herewith  append 
the  result  of  repeated  measurements  taken  in  1901 : 


Extreme  length,  east  to  west . 

Extreme  length,  north  to  south . 

Length  of  chamber,  base  of  cross . 

Length  of  base  of  cross  to  lower  step . . . 

Length  of  steps . 

Top  step  pf  corner  of  arms . 

Length  of  eastern  arm . 

Length  of  western  arm . 

Length  of  northern  arm,  head  of  cross .  . . 
Width  of  eastern,  western,  northern,  arms 

Width  of  chamber,  base  of  cross . 

Height  of  eastern,  western,  northern,  arms 
Height  of  chamber,  base  of  cross . 


41 .4  ft. 


34 

9 

7-5  ‘ 

7 

2 

18. 1  ‘ 

18.2  ‘ 

12.3  ‘ 
5.i  ‘ 
4 

6.5  “ 

3-6 


aver. 

(( 

H 


a 


M 


In  figure  2  are  shown  the  ground-plan  (a)  and  front  view 
of  the  under-courtyard  entrance  (b)  of  this  chamber. 

The  three  rooms  forming  the  head  and  arms  of  the  cross 
are  in  the  substructure  of  the  Temple,  above  the  level  of  the 
court.  The  walls  of  the  several  chambers  are  mosaic, —  that  is, 


1  Saville,  Cruciform  Structures  Near  Mitla,  Bulletin  of  the  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  xm,  art  xvii,  pp.  201-218,  New  York,  Nov.  9,  1900,  10  plates  and  8  text 
figures. 


1 64  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


the  geometric  designs  are  made  by  the  fitting  together  of  small 
stones  of  different  sizes.  Some  of  these  stones  are  more  deeply 
imbedded  than  others,  resulting  in  a  geometric  pattern  formed 
by  the  projecting  stones.  This  mosaic  or  grecque  work  is  a 
prominent  feature  of  the  Mitla  building,  and  its  exact  counter¬ 


part  is  not  found  elsewhere,  although  there  is  a  general  resem¬ 
blance  in  some  of  the  structures  in  Yucatan,  as  noted  at 
the  end  of  this  paper.  Most  of  the  mosaic  panels  in  this  cruci¬ 
form  tomb  are  nearly  destroyed,  the  designs  being  traced  by  the 


Saville — Cruciform  Structures 


Puate  II 


SECTION  OF  NORTH  TFMI'LE,  GROUP  OF  THE  CRUCIFORM  TOMBS 
SHOWING  THE  STONE  HEAD  IN  THE  FACADE 


CRUCIFORM  STRUCTURES  OF  MITLA  165 


broken  edges  of  the  projecting  stones  which  had  formed  the  pat¬ 
tern.  Some  traces  yet  remain  of  a  coating  of  white  cement, 
painted  red.  It  is  extremely  probable  that  the  defacing  of  the 
panels  of  the  chambers  has  been  done  by  Indians  and  not  by 
visitors.  The  Indians  have  a  belief  that  stones  or  fragments 
taken  from  the  buildings  will,  sooner  or  later,  turn  to  gold. 

In  the  center,  at  the  junction  of  the  four  arms,  is  a  depres¬ 
sion,  in  which  is  a  large  column  supporting  the  roof.  This  is 
a  feature  not  found  in  any  other  of  the  cruciform  chambers. 

In  clearing  out  the  courtyard  of  this  group  a  break  in  the 
cement  floor  was  revealed,  showing  an  ancient  excavation  in  the 
bed-rock  below  the  floor.  It  is  about  8  feet  in  length  from 
north  to  south,  averages  5  feet  from  east  to  west,  and  is  6  feet  in 
depth.  The  cement  floor  of  the  courtyard  is  8  inches  in  thickness 
and  about  1.5  feet  above  the  bed-rock  at  this  point.  Here  was 
found  the  doorway  of  the  Cruciform  Tomb  facing  the  south 
(see  pi.  Ill,  1,  showing  doorway  at  the  base  of  the  cross  and  in 
the  background  the  former  entrance  where  in  colonial  times  the 
Spaniards  probably  broke  through  the  stone  steps  leading  up  to 
the  temple) ;  the  southern  arm,  or  base  of  the  cross,  is  in  the 
bed-rock  in  the  northern  extension  of  this  excavation,  the  sides 
of  which  are  covered  with  mosaic  panels,  thus  concealing  the 
rough  walls  cut  in  the  rock.  The  doorway  is  3.6  feet  in  height 
and  2.43  feet  in  width.  The  stone  which  formerly  sealed  the 
door  was  not  discovered,  nor  were  there  found  any  traces  of  steps 
leading  down  from  the  court  to  the  level  of  the  doorway.  It 
would  seem  probable  that  in  ancient  times  this  entrance  was 
entirely  concealed,  the  space  in  the  bed-rock  being  filled  in  and 
the  cement  floor  of  the  courtyard  covering  the  space.  The  steps 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


1 66 

leading  up  from  the  lower  room  into  the  main  galleries  of  the 
tomb  are  rudely  cut  out  of  the  bed-rock,  as  seen  in  plate  IV,  a 
view  taken  from  the  inside  of  the  tomb,  near  the  column,  looking 
toward  the  south. 


CRUCIFORM  TOMB  2 

The  cruciform  chamber  in  the  substructure  of  the  east  tem¬ 
ple  was  discovered  January  24,  1901,  while  clearing  the  debris 
of  the  lower  platform  and  steps  of  this  edifice.  In  plate  V  is 
shown  a  view  of  this  temple  after  the  completion  of  the  explora¬ 
tions  in  the  courtyard.  The  cement  floor  is  shown  also,  and  in 
front  of  the  flight  of  steps  leading  up  to  the  temple  is  seen  the 
opening  to  this  new  Tomb.  An  opening  in  the  cement  floor 
was  uncovered  about  5  feet  west  from  the  lower  step.  This 
opening  averages  a  little  less  than  6  feet  in  diameter  from  north 
to  south  and  from  east  to  west,  its  shape  being  slightly  irregular 
(see  plate  VII,  1,  and  the  ground-plan  and  cross-section  of  the 
chamber  in  fig.  3).  It  is  much  smaller  at  the  base  than  at  the 
top,  as  seen  in  the  cross-section. 

The  first  doorway  (see  a ,  plate  VI,  1)  faces  the  west,  and  has 
been  sealed  by  a  large  stone  (shown  in  plate  VII,  1),  4.4  feet 
high,  4  feet  wide,  and  8 y2  inches  thick.  This  stone  has  been 
thrown  back  against  the  sloping  western  side  of  the  opening  in 
the  position  shown  in  the  picture,  and  under  it  were  found  frag¬ 
ments  of  two  human  skeletons  and  several  pottery  vessels  of  the 
common  type  found  in  the  tombs  —  a  grayish  black  ware. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  opening,  leading  down  from  the 
level  of  the  courtyard  to  the  level  of  the  floor,  at  the  outer  door¬ 
way,  was  found  a  line  of  Spanish  roof  tiles,  seemingly  placed 


Saviree — Cruciform  Structures 


Prate  III 


1 .  Entrance  to  the  Tomb,  looking  northeast 


2.  Interior  of  the  Tomb,  looking  west 
CRUCIFORM  TOMB  NO.  1 


CRUCIFORM  STRUCTURES  OF  MITLA  167 


there  to  conduct  water  into  the  two  lower  chambers  of  the  tomb. 
It  is  probable  that  after  the  discovery  of  this  Cruciform  Tomb 


S 


Fig.  S—Gronnd-plan  and  section,  Cruciform  Tomb  2. 

by  the  Spaniards,  who  removed  whatever  was  found  in  it  and 
made  an  excavation  in  the  floor  of  the  northern  arm,  these  two 
lower  rooms  cut  out  of  the  bed-rock  were  used  as  a  reservoir, 


1 68 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


the  grecque  work  of  the  inner  chamber  being  badly  disintegrated 
by  water.  Later  the  chamber  was  partly  filled  with  earth,  the 
entrance  filled  up,  and  all  traces  of  the  existence  of  the  chamber 
obliterated. 

The  upper  part  of  the  first  doorway  at  the  entrance  is  about 
3.2  feet  below  the  cement  floor  of  the  court.  It  is  about  3.5  feet 
high,  2  feet  long,  and  2.75  feet  broad.  It  leads  into  a  small 
chamber  of  irregular  shape  (see  ground-plan),  about  5.4  feet  in 
height,  3.3  feet  in  length,  and  5.4  feet  in  width  at  the  outer  en¬ 
trance  and  7.5  feet  at  the  inner  end.  In  the  center  of  this  wall  is 
a  second  doorway  (see  b,  plate  VI,  I) ,  averaging  2.9  feet  in  height, 
2.15  feet  in  length  and  2.8  feet  in  width,  which  leads  into  a 
chamber  of  the  same  width  as  the  doorway  and  is  7  feet  long  on 
the  north  side  and  6.3  feet  long  on  the  south  side.  On  each  side 
is  a  mosaic  panel.  This  chamber  does  not  run  at  right  angles 
with  the  entrance,  but  bends  sharply  to  the  north.  The  floor  is 
on  the  same  level  as  the  entrance  to  the  court,  and  from  the  en¬ 
trance  to  the  eastern  end  of  the  chamber  the  structure  is  on  an 
excavation  made  in  the  bed-rock,  as  is  the  case  in  Cruciform 
Tomb  1.  The  roof  rises  in  the  manner  of  inverted  steps,  as  seen 
in  the  cross-section,  this  part  of  the  tomb  being  under  the  steps 
leading  up  to  the  temple.  Inside  of  the  door  the  height  of  the 
room  is  3.5  feet.  Where  the  roof  rises  the  height  is  5.6  feet,  and 
from  this  point  on  one  may  walk  in  an  upright  position.  At  the 
inner  end  of  this  chamber  is  a  flight  of  rude  steps  (three  in  num¬ 
ber)  cut  out  of  the  bed-rock,  which  leads  up  to  another  small 
room  of  irregular  shape,  averaging  3.4  feet  in  length  from  east 
to  west,  6.4  feet  in  width  from  north  to  south,  and  6  feet  in 


SAvmE — Cruciform  Structures 


Prate  IV 


STEPS  CUT  IN  BED-ROCK,  SOUTHERN  ARM  OF  CRUCIFORM  TOMB 
NO.  1,  BOOKING  SOUTH  TOWARD  ENTRANCE 


CRUCIFORM  STRUCTURES  OF  MITLA  169 


height.  The  walls  of  this  chamber  are  made  of  smooth  stones 
and  painted  red. 

From  this  chamber  is  a  third  doorway  (see  c ,  plate  VI,  1),  3 
feet  high,  2.2  feet  long,  and  2.8  feet  wide,  with  a  step  .75  feet 
high.  This  doorway  is  immediately  under  the  front  wall  of  the 
temple,  and  leads  into  the  main  part  of  the  structure,  which  is 
cruciform  and  composed  of  four  arms  or  galleries  (see  plate  VII, 
2,  and  plate  VIII) .  Inside  of  the  door  the  roof  of  the  western  arm 
is  6  feet  above  the  floor  for  a  distance  of  4.65  feet,  where  it  rises 
to  a  height  of  8.3  feet,  which  is  the  height  of  the  eastern,  northern, 
and  southern  arms.  This  western  arm  is  8.35  feet  long  from 
the  doorway  to  the  junction  of  the  other  arms,  and  3  feet  wide. 
At  the  point  of  union  of  the  four  arms  is  a  depression  in  the 
floor,  as  seen  in  the  cross-section  (see  also  plate  Vlll),  about  4.4 
feet  from  north  to  south,  3.25  feet  from  east  to  west,  and  1.25 
feet  deep.  There  is  a  step  into  this  depression,  as  one  enters 
from  the  western  arm,  which  is  .85  feet  deep  from  the  floor. 

The  head  of  the  cross,  or  eastern  arm,  is  7.15  feet  long 
and  4.7  feet  wide.  The  northern  arm  on  the  eastern  side  is  20.2 
feet  long  and  4.7  feet  wide,  and  the  southern  arm  on  the  eastern 
side  is  20.3  feet  long  and  4.7  feet  wide.  The  total  length  of  the 
tomb  from  north  to  south,  which  runs  parallel  to  the  temple 
above,  is  45.2  feet,  and  from  the  doorway  at  the  entrance  of  the 
courtyard  to  the  inner  end  of  the  eastern  arm,  the  distance  is  44.7 
feet,  there  being  but  little  difference  in  the  two  dimensions. 

In  these  four  galleries  the  walls  are  in  a  perfect  state  of 
preservation,  and  contain  the  best  stonework  to  be  found  in 
Mitla.  The  large  stones  are  neatly  joined;  in  some  cases  it  is 
difficult  to  find  the  joints.  The  general  method  of  construction 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


170 

is  shown  in  the  drawing  of  the  south  wall  of  the  western  arm  in 
the  cross-section  of  the  tomb  (?,  plate  VI,  1).  The  north  wall  of 
the  western  and  southern  arms  is  shown  in  d  of  the  same  illustra¬ 
tion.  Plate  VI,  1  a  shows  the  eastern  walls  of  the  northern  and 
southern  arms,  and  b  the  opposite  walls  of  the  same  galleries.  As 
in  the  temples  the  walls  have  grecque  panels,  but  the  designs  are 
cut  in  slabs  as  in  the  cruciform  tomb  at  Xaaga,  and  not  in  the 
mosaic  style  as  in  the  lower  chamber  near  the  entrance,  and  in  the 
temple.  There  are  eleven  panels  in  all,  in  each  of  which  is  a 
different  pattern.  The  designs  in  relief  are  covered  with  white 
cement;  the  inner  cutting  is  painted  a  bright  red  in  which  glisten 
silver-like  particles.  This  red  color  is  probably  from  cinnabar. 
The  designs  were  cut  in  the  slabs  after  the  walls  were  finished, 
and  were  sketched  out  in  black  with  a  blunt  implement.  In  some 
instances  the  stone-cutter  worked  inside  of  the  lines,  many  of  which 
remain,  and  may  be  seen  where  the  cement  covering  has  peeled 
off;  apparently  the  whole  surface  was  lined  off  horizontally,  as 
many  such  lines  are  found  in  all  the  panels.  The  depth  of  the 
design  is  about  an  inch,  and  as  in  the  cruciform  tombs  at  Xaaga 
and  upper  Guiaroo,  the  cutting  is  beveled.  The  floor  is  covered 
with  cement.  The  roof  is  composed  of  large,  flat,  smooth-faced 

_ _  stones.  Over  the  center,  at  the  junction 

of  the  four  arms,  is  a  single  large  stone  on 

_ _  which  a  design  (figure  4)  is  painted  in 

-  red  lines.  This  remarkable  tomb  is  now 

— -  protected  from  vandalism  by  an  iron  gate 

~~~  "  which  is  always  kept  locked.  Visitors 

-  -™  are  admited  only  in  the  company  of  the 

Fig.  4 — Design  on  roof  stone  local  inspector.  It  is,  however,  exposed 
Cruciform  Tomb  2.  to  the  elements  and  during  each  rainy 


EAST  TEMPLE,  GROUP  OF  TWO  CRUCIFORM  TOMBS,  LOOKING  EAST.  ENTRANCE  TO 
CRUCIFORM  TOMB  NO.  2  AT  BASE  OF  STEPS 


Savilee— Cruciform  Structures  Plate  V 


CRUCIFORM  STRUCTURES  OF  MITLA  171 


season  the  lower  chamber  is  flooded  with  water.  A  light  struc¬ 
ture  should  be  built  over  the  entrance  by  the  Mexican  Govern¬ 
ment. 


XAAGA 

The  Hacienda  of  Xaaga  comprises  the  extreme  eastern  end 
of  the  Valley  of  Mitla,  and  extends  for  miles  to  the  eastward. 
The  mountains,  in  which  are  the  ancient  quarries  and  the  Guiaroo 
groups,  form  a  part  of  this  great  estate.1  The  Hacienda  building 
is  about  three  miles  southeast  of  Mitla,  and  is  built  on  the  top 
of  the  principal  mound.  Near  the  houses  are  the  huts  of  the 
Indian  laborers,  some  of  which  are  placed  upon  ancient  mounds, 
while  scattered  about  in  the  immediate  vicinity  are  other  re¬ 
mains.  In  the  great  mound  under  the  Hacienda  building  a 
cruciform  structure  was  discovered  about  thirty  years  ago.  It 
was  first  described  very  briefly  by  Bandelier,  who  gives  a  rough 
plan  of  the  structure,  but  no  measurements.2 3  The  ground-plan 
and  entrance  are  shown  in  figures  5  and  6,  and  a  photograph  of 
the  entrance  is  given  in  plate  IX,  I.  The  entrance,  at  the  foot 
of  the  cross,  faces  the  west,  and  was  found  sealed  by  a  large 
stone  resting  on  a  step  19  cm.  in  height,  a  short  distance  in  from 
the  edge  of  the  mound.  The  floor  of  the  structure  is  somewhat 

1  The  word  Xaaga  is  Zapotecan,  and  is  probably  derived  from  xaguiagaa,  xani 

meaning  below ;  guia,  mountain ;  gaa,  nine ;  or,  “below  the  nine  mountains,”  as  it  is  just  be¬ 
low  a  high  ridge  with  nine  peaks  or  points  which  bears  the  name,  in  Zapotecan,  Guigaa ,  or 
in  Spanish,  Nueve  Picachos.  This  etymology  will  be  found  in  the  valuable  work  of  Manuel 
Martinez  Gracida,  “Catalogo  etimologico  de  las  poblaciones  del  Estado  de  Oaxaca,” 
Boletin  de  la  Sociedad  de  Geografia  y  Estadistica,  Cuarta  epoca,  tomo  i,  num.  6,  7,  and  8, 
p.  418,  Mexico,  1889. 

3  Bandelier,  op.  cit.,  pp.  309-310. 


172 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


lower  than  the  level  of  the  ground  in  the  immediate  vicinity. 
An  excavation  of  this  mound  would  very  likely  reveal  walls,  and 
possibly  the  ruins  of  a  building:  this  was  the  case  in  mound  2, 
in  which  Tomb  1  was  found  near  Mitla  during  the  winter 


Fig.  6 — Entrance  to  Cruciform  Chamber, 
Xaaga 


'Odm  O  ,  1  3 

Fig.  5 — Ground-plan  of  Cruciform  Chamber,  Xaaga 


of  1901,  where  the  tomb  was  in  the  western  side  of  the  mound  and 
excavations  uncovered  stone  walls  and  a  filled-in  structure.  The 
four  chambers  which  form  the  cross  of  the  Xaaga  structure  are 
covered  by  large  flat  roof-stones.  Over  the  western  chamber  or 


Savtlle— Cruciform  Structures 


Plate  VI 


(1 


1.  Doorways  and  walls  of  Eastern  and  Western  ar  ns 


a 


CRUCIFORM  STRUCTURES  OF  MITLA  173 


base  there  are  four  stones  which  form  the  roof,  and  beyond  are 
four  others  which  extend  to  the  junction  of  the  four  arms.  The 
height  of  this  chamber  varies;  at  the  entrance,  which  is  low, 
it  is  1  m.  15  cm.  in  height.  At  a  distance  of  3.6  feet  from  the 
door  the  roof  rises  2^  inches,  the  average  height  throughout 
the  entire  structure  being  3.6  feet.  Over  the  eastern  chamber  or 
head  of  the  cross,  one  stone  forms  the  roof;  over  the  northern 
arm  are  three,  and  over  the  southern  arm  are  four  stone  slabs. 


Fig.  7 — North  wall  of  eastern  arm,  Cruciform  Chamber,  Xaaga 


The  center  of  the  cross  is  covered  by  a  single  large  stone,  at  which 
point  the  floor  is  depressed  6  inches.  The  floor  of  the  entire 
structure  is  covered  with  cement  6  cm.  in  thickness. 

The  stonework  of  the  eleven  walls  resembles  that  of  the 
outer  walls  of  the  “temples,”  being  composed  generally  of  five 
courses  of  stones.  In  the  center  of  each  of  the  walls  is  a  mosaic 
panel.  In  the  different  panels  are  found  repeated  all  of  the 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


various  designs  seen  in  the  “temples,”  and  several  peculiar  to 
this  structure.  A  section  of  the  north  wall  of  the  east  arm  is 
shown  in  figure  7.  These  panels  are  colored;  the  inner  surface 
is  painted  red,  while  the  design  in  relief  is  covered  by  a  thin 
coating  of  white  cement.  Each  of  these  panels  is  composed  of 
from  four  to  five  stones.  In  the  eastern  side  of  the  southern  arm, 
at  the  point  indicated  in  the  ground-plan  (figure 
5),  is  a  rude  human  face  (figure  8),  carved  out  of 
stone,  painted  red,  which  projects  about  2^2  inches 
from  the  wall  above  the  panel.  This  feature  was 
found  in  two  tombs  with  mosaic  stonework  at  in  southern  arm 
Mitla.  In  Tomb  1,  two  heads  were  found  project-  Chamber’  Xaajra 
ing  from  the  front  wall  of  the  vault,  one  on  each  side  of  the  door, 
slightly  above  the  line  of  the  lintel.  In  Tomb  4,  two  animal 
heads  were  found  in  the  interior  of  the  chamber,  one  near  the 
northeast  corner,  and  the  other  in  the  southwest  corner,  both  pro¬ 
jecting  just  below  the  roof.  Moreover,  during  the  excavation  of 
the  substructure  in  front  of  the  north  building  of  the  Group  of  the 
Cruciform  Tombs  in  Mitla,  a  stone  carving  representing  a  rude 
human  face  was  found  just  below  one  of  the  holes  which  are 
found  at  intervals  in  the  facades  of  the  temples.  This  head  fits 
perfectly  into  the  hole  above,  and  unquestionably  belongs  there, 
thus  solving  the  problem  of  the  use  of  these  holes,  for  which  a 
number  of  suggestions  have  been  advanced  (see  plate  II). 

The  dimensions  of  the  chamber  are  as  follows: 


Extreme  length  from  east  to  west . . . . . 32  ft. 

Extreme  length  from  north  to  south . . .26.9  “ 

Length  of  base  of  cross . 18.9  “ 

Length  of  head  of  cross . 8.7  “ 


Length  of  northern  and  southern  arms 


Plate  VII 


1.  Entrance,  looking  east 


2.  Interior,  Northern  Arm 
CRUCIFORM  TOMB  NO.  2 


CRUCIFORM  STRUCTURES  OF  MITLA  175 


Width  of  northern  and  southern  arms . 

Width  of  entrance  and  entire  base  of  cross . 

Width  of  head  of  cross . 

Length  of  northern,  eastern,  and  southern  arms 
Width  of  northern,  eastern,  and  southern  arms. 


GUIAROO 


The  general  location  of  the  Guiaroo  group  of  ruins  is  shown 
in  plate  XII,  5,  being  in  the  depression  of  the  mountain  range, 
directly  in  the  center  of  the  picture,  back  of  the  temple. 


They  are  situated  about  four  miles  from  the  village  of  Mitla,  and 


the  hill  upon  which  they  are  located  is  more  than  a  thousand 
feet  above  the  valley.  The  high  peak  at  the  left  is  Guiaroo 
mountain;  Guiaroo  is  a  Zapotecan  word,  meaning  “high  moun¬ 
tain.”  1  The  Xaaga  ruins  are  at  the  base  of  the  mountains  at  the 
right  of  the  picture.  The  quarries  are  to  the  left  of  Guiaroo 
peak,  on  the  mountain. 

The  hill  is  covered  by  a  dense  underbrush,  and  there  was 
formerly  no  road  or  trail  leading  up  to  the  ruins  from  the  valley 
below.  There  is  a  fairly  good  ox-cart  road  to  the  base  of  the 
foothills,  and  from  that  point  a  road  was  made  to  the  summit, 
so  that  now  the  ascent  may  be  easily  accomplished  on  horseback. 
The  spur  on  which  the  ruins  are  situated  is  separated  from  the 
lower  hills  to  the  west,  and  the  high  mountain  ridge  to  the  east, 
by  deep  and  almost  impassable  barrancas. 

The  view  looking  west  is  magnificent;  the  entire  Valley 
of  Mitla  is  spread  out  before  one,  and  the  high  mountains  of  the 

2  The  common  term  used  by  the  natives  in  designating  the  ruins  at  Guiaroo  is 
Paderones,  a  corruption  of  the  Spanish  word  paredones ,  “walls.”  The  Zapotecan  term  for 
the  ruins  is  Basul  Lyobaa.  Lyobaa  is  the  Zapotecan  name  of  Mitla. 


176  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Mixteca,  forty  miles  distant,  are  seen  in  the  background.  This 
spur  would  have  formed  a  natural  stronghold  in  case  of  attack 
by  an  enemy,  as  the  only  practicable  approach  would  have  been 
from  the  high  hill  to  the  north  on  which  the  ancient  quarries 
were  situated.  It  is  not  a  desirable  location  for  a  large  settle- 


tc  S  o  ,  1  3  «  S  6  7  tft 

Fig.  9 — Ground-plan  of  Cruciform  Chamber,  Guiaroo,  i/ower  Group 


ment,  for  the  reason  that  the  entire  available  space  on  the  summit 
is  occupied  by  the  temple  and  sepulchral  ruins,  and  it  would  have 
been  impossible  for  the  steep  sides  of  the  hills  to  be  used  for 
habitation  sites. 


Savilee — Cruciform  Structures 


Plate  VIII 


INTERIOR  OF  CRUCIFORM  TOMB  NO.  2,  ROOKING  NORTH  FROM 
SOUTHERN  ARM,  SHOWING  DEPRESSION  IN  THE  CENTER 


CRUCIFORM  STRUCTURES  OF  MITLA  177 


GUIAROO  —  LOWER  GROUP 

The  entrance  of  the  cruciform  chamber,  discovered  by 
Dupaix,  is  illustrated  in  plate  IX,  2,  and  the  ground  plan  is 
given  in  figure  9.  Dupaix’s  plan  is  not  correct;  it  shows 
steps  which  have  never  existed,  and  the  cross-section  which  he 
gives  of  the  tomb  with  mosaic  panels  is  absolutely  wrong.1  The 
walls  of  this  structure  are  composed  of  medium-sized  stones, 
covered  with  cement;  in  the  center,  where  the  four  arms  join, 
the  four  corners  are  made  of  large  stones.  The  walls  are  painted, 
the  lower  half  being  red,  the  upper  part  white,  the  natural  color 
of  the  cement.  The  dimensions  of  the  structure  do  not  show  the 
regularity  seen  in  the  Xaaga  tombs. 

The  dimensions  are  as  follows: 


Extreme  length  from  east  to  west . 24  ft. 

Extreme  length  from  north  to  south . 22 

Length  of  base  of  cross . 11.7 

Length  of  head  of  cross .  9.3  “ 

Length  of  northern  arm .  9.2  “ 

Length  of  southern  arm .  9.9  “ 

Width  of  entrance . 2.6  “ 

Width  of  head  of  cross .  3*1  ” 

Width  of  end  of  northern  arm .  3 

Width  of  end  of  southern  arm .  3.2  “ 

Average  height  of  the  chamber .  4.4  “ 


1  Dupaix  gives  the  following  description  of  this  tomb:  “Under  the  principal  entrance 
of  this  building,  at  a  very  little  depth,  is  a  subterranean  sepulcher:  it  is  constructed  in  a 
simple  style,  and  its  plan  is  in  form  of  a  cross,  constituting  four  chambers,  the  walls  of 
which  are  coated  with  square  stones  polished  and  painted  with  ocher.  A  flight  of  stairs 
leads  to  it,  and  their  descent  faces  the  west.  We  found  nothing  in  this  dismal  vault 
but  the  remains  of  a  deer  and  a  kid,  which  some  leopard  or  wolf,  the  present  occupants  of 
this  ancient  house,  had  dragged  to  this  solitary  spot.” 


178  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


At  the  present  entrance,  which  is  at  the  base,  and  faces  the 
west,  there  are  no  signs  of  any  stone  which  might  have  served 
to  seal  the  chamber.  It  is  but  a  slight  distance  below  the  level 
between  the  two  adobe  houses,  and  the  eastern  part  of  the  vault 
is  under  the  eastern  adobe  house,  a  portion  of  the  wall  being  seen 
in  the  upper  right-hand  corner  of  plate  IX,  2.  The  rude 
stonework  of  this  structure  is  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  two 
small  tombs  found  in  the  valley,  and  may  indicate  the  work  of 
the  late  Zapotecan  occupants  of  Mitla.  They  resemble  also 
the  stonework  of  the  Xoxo  and  Cuilapa  tombs  found  in  the 
mogotes  of  the  valley  south  of  the  city  of  Oaxaca,  where  the 
mosaic  treatment  of  decoration  is  entirely  absent.  In  the  valley 
tombs  near  Mitla,  however,  no  funeral  urns  like  the  Xoxo  and 
Cuilapa  urns  were  found. 

GUIAROO  —  UPPER  GROUP 

The  great  cruciform  subterranean  chamber  now  to  be  de¬ 
scribed  is  on  the  upper  part  of  the  hill  about  one  hundred  feet 
above  and  six  hundred  feet  north  of  the  main  group.  To  the 
northwest  and  higher  up  in  the  range  of  hills,  about  one  mile 
distant,  are  the  old  quarries  whence  were  transported,  in  ancient 
times,  the  immense  blocks  of  stone  which  form  the  door  lintels 
of  the  more  important  temples  of  Mitla.  Many  immense  quar¬ 
ried  stones  still  lie  scattered  about  at  the  quarries,  while  the 
others  have  been  partially  broken  out  from  the  bed-rock.  The 
large  blocks  used  in  the  construction  of  the  cruciform  chamber 
were  transported  from  this  place,  and  on  the  way  between  these 
two  points  are  several  large  blocks  which  were  evidently  being 
moved  to  the  chamber  when  the  work  ceased.  The  method  of 


Saville— Crucifrom  Structures 


Plate  IX 


1.  Entrance  to  Cruciform  Chamber,  looking  east.  Xaaga 


2.  Entrance  to  Cruciform  Chamber,  looking  east.  Eower  Guiaroo 
ENTRANCES  TO  CRUCIFORM  CHAMBERS 


CRUCIFORM  STRUCTURES  OF  MITLA  179 


transportation  was  probably  by  means  of  rollers  and  large  ropes. 
The  stones  were  dressed  at  the  quarries,  and  the  mosaic  designs 
carved  after  they  were  placed  in  position  in  the  structure. 

The  first  notice  which  we  have  of  this  splendid  structure 
is  given  by  Ober,  who  visited  it  in  1881.  Its  importance  seems 
to  have  escaped  the  attention  of  subsequent  explorers,  for  it  is 
not  mentioned  by  Randelier,  Seler,  or  Holmes.  Ober  gives  the 
following  account  of  the  structure:  “That  the  hills  are  full  of 
ruins  which  no  one  has  seen  of  late,  we  were  fully  convinced. 
We  visited  several  sepulchral  structures  of  stone,  their  inner 
surfaces  carved  into  the  same  strange  shapes  as  adorned  the  walls. 
Professor  Bandelier,  sent  out  by  the  Archaeological  Institute 
of  America,  had  remained  here  twelve  days,  but  had  not  seen 
these  paredones,  or  Indian  walls,  in  the  hills  which  we  visited. 
....  We  ascended  the  high  hills  in  quest  of  the  paredones 
above  the  valley, —  a  most  tedious  climb,  over  ridges  and  through 
barrancas.  We  found  the  largest  paredon  in  a  dense  thicket  on 
a  hill  commanding  the  whole  valley,  near  the  gap  through  which 
passes  the  trail  to  the  Mixe  village  of  Ayutla.  A  sepulcher  is 
formed  here,  of  massive  blocks,  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  about  ten 
feet  deep,  six  wide,  and  thirty  long.  All  the  inner  faces  of  these 
immense  blocks  are  sculptured,  like  those  of  Saga,  while  other 
dressed  rocks  are  scattered  about.”  1 

In  the  article  on  “Oaxaca  and  its  Surroundings,”  by  Dr  N. 
H.  Wheeler,  published  in  Popular  Science  News  for  Janu- 

1  Ober,  op.  cit,  pp.  541-542.  In  my  first  paper  on  this  subject,  I  gave  this  extract  from 
Ober  in  a  footnote.  It  seems  to  have  been  overlooked  by  Leon  in  his  book  on  Mitla,  where 
he  ascribes  the  discovery  to  Batres.  Before  undertaking  my  work  at  Mitia  in  1900,  I  had 
been  presented  with  a  plan  of  this  Guiaroo  tomb,  by  Dr  N.  H.  Wheeler.  Hence,  to  correct 
any  wrong  impression  as  to  the  credit  of  the  discovery  of  this  most  important  structure, 
Ober’s  account  has  been  included  in  the  text  of  this  revised  study. 


180  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

ary,  1896,  this  cruciform  structure  is  mentioned;  and  in  a  small 
brochure  issued  later  by  the  Mexican  National  Railway,  under 
the  title  “Tropical  Tours  to  Toltec  Towns,”  the  writer  quotes 
from  a  newspaper  article  signed  “W.”  (probably  Wheeler)  in 
which  a  brief  description,  with  measurements,  of  the  structure 


Fig.  10 — Ground-plan  of  Cruciform  Chamber,  Guiaroo,  Upper  Group 


is  given.  The  chamber  was  covered  by  forest,  and  half  filled 
with  debris,  composed  of  rubble  stone  and  earth.  The  view  in 
plate  X,  1,  was  taken  before  clearing  out  the  debris,  and  gives  a 
good  general  idea  of  the  cruciform  plan  of  the  chamber.  In  the 


SavielE — Cruciform  Structure^ 


FlaTE  % 


1.  booking  southeast,  before  excavation 


2.  hooking  east,  after  excavation 
CRUCIFORM  CHAMBER  OF  UPPER  GUIAROO 


CRUCIFORM  STRUCTURES  OF  MITLA  181 


background,  to  the  left,  the  zigzig  bridle-path  is  seen,  which 
leads  into  the  region  occupied  by  the  Mixe  Indians,  and  is  also 
a  highway,  but  not  the  main  one  to  Tehuantepec. 

Figure  io  is  the  ground-plan,  and  shows  that  the  angles 
formed  by  the  junction  of  the  side  and  end  walls  of  the  arms  of 
the  cross  are  not  perfect  right  angles. 

Apparently  this  structure  was  never  completed.  The  debris 
with  which  it  was  partially  filled  did  not  contain  the  slightest 
trace  of  remains  of  human  workmanship,  and  had  probably 
fallen  down  and  washed  in  from  a  ruined  structure  occupying  a 
pyramidal-shaped  mound  about  twenty  feet  in  height;  the  base 

of  this  mound  adjoined  the 
northwest  corner  of  the 
structure,  indications  of 
which  are  seen  in  plate  XI, 
2,  near  the  upper  left-hand 
corner.  The  large  stones 
were  pinched  into  place  by 
means  of  the  holes  in  the 
back  of  them  (plate  XII,  i), 
and  the  perfect  joining  of 
these  immense  blocks  re¬ 
veals  the  absolute  mastery 
of  the  stoneworker’s  art. 
The  carving  was  done  after 
the  walls  of  the  chamber 
were  completed,  and  the  de¬ 
signs  must  have  been  traced 
out  on  the  wall  surface  be- 


M  WUe*. 

Fig.  11— “Mosaic”  patterns,  wall  of  Cruciform 
Chamber,  Guiaroo,  Upper  Group 


1 82  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


fore  the  cutting  of  the  mosaic  patterns.  Stone  chisels  have  been 
used,  and  probably  this  tool  was  the  one  employed  by  the  ancient 
workmen. 

There  are  three  different  designs  in  the  decoration.  A 
drawing  of  the  end  of  the  northern  arm  is  shown  in  figure  11. 
Whether  the  grecques  are  purely  decorative  or  are  conventional 
symbols  is  difficult  to  say.  By  a  stretch  of  the  imagination  the 
upper  and  lower  patterns  might  be  resolved  into  a  series  of 
swastikas.  These  three  designs  form  continuous  bands  of  dec¬ 
oration  around  the  chamber;  a  single  break  in  the  carving  is 
found  in  the  plain  end-wall  of  the  southern  arm,  a  curious  fea¬ 
ture  of  which  is  the  hole  for  pinching  (see  plate  XI,  1). 
The  depth  of  the  carving  is  about  three-fourths  of  an  inch,  and 
as  a  rule  the  serrated  edges  of  the  patterns  are  slightly  beveled. 
In  one  place  which  was  well  protected  from  weathering  by  the 
debris,  a  small  section  of  the  design  still  preserves,  on  the  part 
in  relief,  a  very  thin  coating  of  cement  with  outline  of  grecques 
painted  red.  The  floor  of  the  chamber  is  not  cemented,  another 
proof  of  its  unfinishd  state. 

In  plate  XII,  2,  are  shown  three  stones  which  lie  close 
to  the  southern  end  of  the  structure;  holes  for  pinching  are 
seen,  and  on  the  stone  at  the  right  is  a  raised  ridge,  similar  to 
the  one  shown  on  the  stones  in  place  in  plate  X.  These  blocks 
do  not  bear  mosaic  carving,  and  were  apparently  intended  to 
form  the  end  of  the  western  arm,  the  opening.  The  dimensions 
of  the  chamber  are  as  follows: 

32.8  ft. 
28.6  “ 


Extreme  length  from  east  to  west . 

Extreme  length  from  north  to  south . 

Length  of  northern,  eastern,  and  southern  arms 


Saville— Cruciform  Structures 


Plate  XI 


2.  Rooking  north,  inside  of  structure 
CRUCIFORM  CHAMBER  OF  UPPER  GUIAROO 


CRUCIFORM  STRUCTURES  OF  MITLA  183 


Width  of  northern,  eastern,  and  southern  arms.  . . 
Length  of  western  arm  to  end  of  sculpture ....... 

Width  of  western  arm . . . 

Height  of  chamber . . . . 

Size  of  largest  block,  southern  wall  of  western  arm 
Total  number  of  stones  employed............. 


_ _ _ 5.2  ft. 

..........11.  “ 

.  5-2  “ 

. . 7.5  “ 

12.5  by  3.3  by  3  “ 

•  . . .  •  52 


Above  and  below  the  three  mosaic  bands  are  plain  surfaces, 
the  upper  one  .4  high,  the  lower  one  .7.  The  heights  of  the 

various  mosaic  designs  are,  respec¬ 
tively,  upper,  2.1  ft.,  center,  2.15 
ft.,  and  lower,  1.9  ft. 

Rising  from  the  northwest  cor¬ 
ner  of  this  subterranean  chamber 
is  a  pyramidal  mound,  the  founda¬ 
tion  of  a  building  now  entirely  de¬ 
stroyed.  On  the  top  we  found  the 
remains  of  a  much  decayed  skele¬ 
ton,  buried  about  two  feet  from  the 
surface;  two  stone  heads  were  ex¬ 
cavated  near  by,  one  of  which  is 
shown  in  figure  12;  it  is  well 
carved  and  is  one  of  the  finest 

Fig.  12 — Stone  head,  found  near  Cru-  . 

tiform  Chamber,  Guiaroo,  Upper  pieces  of  Stonework  f TOm  Oaxaca. 
Group 

It  is  perhaps  a  portrait  of  one  of 
the  former  occupants  of  this  locality;  the  aquiline  nose  is  one  of 
the  characteristic  features  of  the  modern  Zapotecan  Indian.  The 
head  is  cut  from  a  piece  of  volcanic  tuff,  and  is  about  5^4  inches 
high  and  4  inches  wide.  The  projection  at  the  back  shown  in 
the  drawing  has  served  to  fasten  the  head  in  a  stone  wall,  either 


184  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


in  the  outer  or  inner  wall  of  a  tomb.  This  point  I  have  already 
noted  in  the  description  of  the  chamber  at  Xaaga. 

This  concludes  the  description  of  the  cruciform  structures 
at  Mitla.  There  are  other  covered  or  subterranean  chambers 
in  the  form  of  a  cross  in  Oaxaca  and  Puebla,  which  I  shall 
briefly  notice.  I  have  been  informed  by  Sr  Manuel  Martinez 
Gracida,  who  is  perhaps  the  best  authority  on  the  archaeology  of 
Oaxaca,  that  there  are  cruciform  tombs  at  Chilchotla,  District 
of  Teotitlan  del  Camino,  in  the  region  now  occupied  by  the 
Mazatecs,  and  at  Otitlan,  District  of  Tuxtepec,  in  the  region 
occupied  by  the  Chinantecs.  These  places  I  have  not  been  able 
to  visit,  and  I  do  not  know  the  style  of  architecture,  nor  whether 
they  have  the  mosaic  treatment  of  the  walls.  I  was  informed 
by  Dr  N.  H.  Wheeler  of  the  discovery  of  a  cruciform  tomb  at 
Ejutla.  I  visited  this  place  in  January,  1902,  but  the  structure 
had  been  so  covered  by  debris  that  I  was  not  able  to  make  any 
careful  survey  or  observations  as  to  its  character.  It  is 
situated  in  the  largest  and  most  imposing  mogote  in  the  Ejutla 
group  in  the  center  of  the  village,  and  must  have  been  erected 
as  a  tomb  of  some  important  personage.  From  the  character 
of  the  stones,  the  presence  of  stucco  decorations  on  the  outer 
wall,  and  the  size  of  the  mogote,  it  seems  evident  that  it  was  one 
of  the  largest  burial  structures  in  this  part  of  Oaxaca.  A  slab 
found  near  the  front  of  the  tomb,  which  faces  south,  which  prob¬ 
ably  served  to  seal  the  entrance,  bears  carving  of  the  Zapotecan 
type.  I  secured  several  small  objects  of  clay  and  a  string  of 
shell  and  amazonstone  beads,  said  to  have  been  found  with  a 
skeleton  in  one  of  the  arms  of  the  structure.  M.  Leon  Diguet 
in  “Notes  d’Archeologie  Mixteco-Zapoteque,”  read  before  the 


Savilre— Cruciform  Structures 


Prate  Xll 


1.  Excavation  made  outside  of  the  chamber,  looking  northeast 


2.  barge  blocks  of  stone  lying  south  of  the  chamber 
CRUCIFORM  CHAMBER  OF  UPPER  GUIAROO 


CRUCIFORM  STRUCTURES  OF  MITLA  185 


Societe  des  Americanistes  of  Paris,  November  8,  1904,  calls 
attention  to  the  Ejutla  cruciform  structure.  He  states  that  “the 
mogote  of  Ejutla  is  of  hemispherical  form,  six  meters  in  height, 
with  a  diameter  at  the  base  of  forty  meters,  covering  in  its  center 
a  cruciform  crypt.”  In  his  description  of  the  interior  he  gives 
no  measurements.1  I  do  not  know  when  Diguet  made  his  ob¬ 
servations.  If  later  than  my  visit,  the  debris  must  have  been 
removed  from  the  place;  this  is  very  probable,  as  the  mound  is 
in  the  backyard  of  one  of  the  houses  in  the  town,  and  the  tomb 
would  make  an  excellent  storehouse  for  the  owner  of  the  prop¬ 
erty. 

Another  cruciform  chamber  was  discovered  many  year9 
ago  and  was  described  by  Dupaix.  I  quote  here  from  the  trans¬ 
lation  of  Dupaix’s  account  as  published  by  Bancroft.  “At  Chila, 
in  the  extreme  southern  part  of  Puebla,  is  a  hill  known  as  La 
Tortuga,  on  which  is  built  an  unterraced  pyramid,  eighty-eight 
feet  square  at  the  base,  fifty-five  feet  high,  with  a  summit  plat¬ 
form  fifty  feet  square.  It  is  built  of  hewn  stone  and  covered,  as 
it  appeared  from  Castaneda’s  drawing,  with  cement.  The  ex¬ 
terior  surface  is  much  broken  up  by  the  trees  that  have  taken 
root  there.  A  stairway  leads  up  the  western  front.  Near  the 
northeastern  corner  of  the  mound  is  an  entrance  leading  down 

1 1  give  here  what  Diguet  writes  concerning  the  Ejutla  tomb:  “Sur  la  section  ainsi 
mise  a  jour,  on  voit  clairement  que  1’edifice  fut  agrandi  a  trois  reprises  differentes.  Cet 
accroissement  successif  est  constate  par  des  couches  de  stucage  disposees  parallelement  dans 
la  construction.  Le  mogote  d’Ejutla,  de  forme  hemispherique,  d’une  hauteur  de  six 
metres,  d’un  diametre  de  base  de  quarante  metres,  recouvre  en  son  centre  une  crypte 
cruciforme  d’assez  vaste  dimension,  mais  qui  selon  toutes  probability  ete  retouchee,  elle 
aussi,  apres  coup,  quand  on  a  augmente  les  proportions  de  1’edifice. 

“Elle  offre  cette  particlrarite  que  la  partie  centrale,  orientee  de  l’E.  a  l’O.  (et  dont  la 
moitie  seule  existe  aujourd’hui),  est  en  forme  de  nef  avec  une  voute  ogivale,  les  deux 
autres  chambres  formant  transept  paraissent  seulement  avoir  en  une  voute  ^  peine  cintree, 
presque  moitie  plus  basse  que  le  reste.  Le  fond  de  la  nef,  c’est-i-dire  la  partie  qui 


1 86 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


by  seven  stone  steps  to  a  small  tomb  about  eleven  feet  below  the 

surface  of  the  ground,  and  not  under  the  mound.  At  the  foot 

of  the  steps  is  an  apartment  measuring  five  and  a  half  feet  long 

and  four  feet  wide,  with  a  branch  or  gallery  four  feet  long  and 

a  little  less  than  three  feet  wide  and  high,  in  the  center  of  each 

of  the  three  sides,  thus  giving  the  whole  tomb  in 

ground-plan  the  form  of  a  cross . There  is 

certainly  a  general  resemblance  to  be  noted  in  this 

tomb  structure  to  those  at  Mitla;  the  interior  is 
v  ... 

|  lined  with  hewn  blocks  laid  in  lime  mortar  and 
covered  with  a  fine  white  plaster,  the  plaster  on  the 
ceiling  being  eight  or  nine  inches  thick.  The  dis- 
.  ^  J  covery  of  human  bones  in  the  lateral  galleries 

plan,  Cruciform  ieaves  n0  doubt  respecting  the  use  to  which  the 

Chamber,  Chila.  r  0 

subterranean  structure  was  devoted.”1  (See 
ground-plan,  figure  13.) 

I  was  at  first  inclined  to  place  some  importance  to  the  fact 
that  this  structure  faced  the  south  as  does  one  of  the  cruciform 
chambers  at  Mitla.  The  explorations  made  at  both  the  Mitla 

regarde  l’Orient,  presente  sur  sa  paroi,  a  mi-hauteur,  une  serie  de  petites  niches  de 
differentes  grandeurs  et  de  formes  varices.  A  proximite  de  ce  fond  et  sur  les  cotes,  se 
trouvent  deux  grandes  niches  creusees  dans  la  paroi  laterale.  Les  parois  de  la  crypte 
laissent  voir  distinctement  la  brique  crue  de  la  construction,  sans  trace  d’un  revetement. 
L’ogive  du  haut  ne  parait  pas  avoir  ete  construite,  mais  taillee,  du  moins  en  partie,  dans 
les  assises  de  briques  crues  que  I’on  avait  ajoutees  lors  d’une  seconde  augmentation  de 
1’edifice.  C’est  du  moins  ce  que  prouverait,  a  mon  sens,  une  trace  de  stucage,  visible  encore 
a  une  certaine  hauteur  dans  le  mur.  .  .  . 

“Toute  la  partie  exterieure  mise  a  jour  a  montre  la  decoration  dont  etait  ornee  la  base 
de  1’edifice.  Sur  une  hauteur  de  quatre-vingts  centimetres,  des  pierres  calcaires  taillees 
formaient  le  soubassement  se  ce  socle.  II  se  continuait  en  hauteur  par  une  serie  de  frises 
en  stuc  epais,  parfaitement  travaille.  Une  seule  de  ces  frises  presentait  un  motif  d’orne- 
mentation.”  —  Journal  de  la  Societe  des  A  mericanistes  de  Paris,  Nouvelle  Serie,  tome  II, 
1905,  pp.  114,  115. 

1  Bancroft,  Native  Races  of  the  Pacific  States,  IV,  Antiquities,  chap,  ix,  pp.  465,  466. 


CRUCIFORM  STRUCTURES  OF  MITLA  187 


ruins  and  in  the  Valley  of  Oaxaca,  show  that  there  was,  with  one 
possible  exception,  no  fixed  direction  in  which  the  entrances  of 
the  tombs  must  face.  The  Zapotecan  tombs  discovered  in  Xoxo 
by  the  Loubat  Expedition  all  faced  the  west,  but  there  may  be 
tombs  there  which  we  did  not  discover  facing  in  other  directions. 
In  Cuilapa,  for  example,  we  found  under  one  cement  covered 
platform,  slightly  raised  above  the  ground,  three  tombs,  facing 
respectively,  south,  west,  and  north,  while  in  some  of  the  other 
mogotes  tombs  were  found  facing  west.  Thus  the  point  which  I 
raised  in  my  first  publications  on  this  subject  does  not,  in  the 
light  of  later  explorations,  obtain. 

The  massiveness  of  the  construction,  and  simple  and  chaste 
ornamentation,  place  the  Mitla  cruciform  structures  in  a  class 
unapproached  by  any  other  known  burial  chambers  in  ancient 
America.  The  workmanship  revealed  in  the  stonework,  the 
elegant  precision  with  which  the  stones  are  laid  and  carved,  is 
not  equaled  in  any  of  the  Mayan  ruins.  However,  as  noted  by 
Holmes,1  the  geometric  fretwork  mosaics  differ  from  the  great 
facades  of  the  Mayan  buildings  “in  subject  matter  rather  than  in 
kind,  for  the  decorated  surfaces  there,  though  depicting  animal 
forms,  are  mosaics  in  the  sense  that  they  are  made  up  of  separate 
hewn  or  carved  stones  set  in  mortar  to  form  ornamental  designs.” 
This  method  of  construction  brings  the  Mitla  temples,  cruci¬ 
form  chambers,  and  smaller  tombs  into  relationship  with  the 
Mayan  ruins.  So  far  as  I  am  aware,  outside  of  the  Mayan  ter¬ 
ritory  no  other  group  of  buildings  with  the  exception  of  Mitla 
has  this  mosaic  style  of  stonework.  In  plate  XIII  I  have 
brought  together  side  by  side  a  view  of  a  section  of  the  so-called 


1  Holmes,  op.  cit.,  pp.  247,  248. 


1 88 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


“House  of  the  Governor”  in  Uxmal,  Yucatan,  and  a  picture  of 
the  northern  end  of  the  “Hall  of  the  Mosaics”  in  the  Temple 
of  the  Columns  at  Mitla,  which  will  illustrate  the  close  resem¬ 
blance  in  the  construction.  There  is  one  point  of  variance,  how¬ 
ever,  which  is  quite  noteworthy,  namely,  in  the  roof.  In  the 
whole  Mayan  area  the  style  of  roof  is  what  has  been  called  the 
Mayan  or  triangular  arch,  whereas  in  the  Mitla  buildings  and 
tombs  a  flat  roof  was  used.  In  Yucatan  flat  roofs  are  reported 
from  but  one  ruin  —  Tuloom,  on  the  eastern  coast  of  the  penin¬ 
sula.  Stephens  describes  a  small  building  visited  by  him  in  1841 
in  which  the  ceiling  is  flat,  and  several  others  with  fallen  roofs, 
but  with  indications  of  the  same  method  of  roof  construction.* 1 
On  the  tops  of  some  of  the  walls  in  the  Mitla  edifices  we  have 
seen  the  mortar  sockets  in  which  formerly  rested  the  ends  of 
wooden  ceiling  beams.  Unfortunately  these  sockets  have  been 
filled  in  by  the  Inspector  of  Ancient  Monuments  in  his  repairs 
and  restorations  at  the  ruins. 

In  the  Mayan  remains  outside  of  Yucatan,  for  example  in 
Palenque,  where  much  stucco  was  employed  in  embellishing 
the  rough  stone  walls  of  the  buildings,  and  at  Copan,  Honduras, 
where  sculptured  monoliths  are  the  chief  feature,  this  mosaic 
work  is  not  found.  Stucco  was  sparingly  used  in  Yucatan,  and 

1  Stephens,  Incidents  of  Travel  in  Yucatan,  li,  p.  398,  299.  His  description  is  inter¬ 
esting,  and  as  the  ruins  of  Tuloom  have  not  been  visited  by  archaeologists  since  that  time, 

I  quote  what  he  writes  concerning  this  roof:  “The  interior  [of  the  chamber]  is  about 
seven  feet  high,  and  discloses  an  entirely  new  principle  of  construction.  It  has  four  prin¬ 
cipal  beams  of  wood,  about  six  inches  in  diameter,  laid  on  the  top  of  the  wall  from  end 
to  end  of  the  chamber,  with  smaller  beams,  about  three  inches  in  diameter,  laid  across 
the  larger  so  closely  as  to  touch,  and  on  these  cross-beams  is  a  thick  mass  of  mortar  and 
large  pebbles,  which  was  laid  on  moist,  and  now  form  a  solid  crust,  being  the  same  ma¬ 
terials  which  we  had  seen  in  ruins  on  the  floors  of  other  rooms.”  This  describes  what  was 
also  the  probable  construction  of  the  roofs  of  the  Mitla  temples. 


WALDS  AT  UXMAL  AND  MITLA 


Savieee — Cruciform  Structures  Peate  XIII 


CRUCIFORM  STRUCTURES  OF  MITLA  189 


there  are  but  slight  traces  of  it  in  Mitla.  Moreover,  there  is  but 
little  separate  stone  sculpture  in  Yucatan,  and,  with  the  excep¬ 
tion  of  small  stone  idols  and  amulets,  none  is  found  at  Mitla. 
The  absence  of  carved  stone  monoliths  and  stelae  at  Mitla  is 
striking,  when  we  consider  the  great  monolithic  lintels  of  one 
of  the  temples  (where  there  are  single  stones  nearly  twenty  feet 
in  length),  and  the  great  size  of  the  separate  stones  used  in  the 
construction  of  the  upper  Guiaroo  structure. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  said  to  be  highly  probable  that 
the  Mitla  and  Yucatan  ruins  belong  to  the  same  epoch  and  are 
the  remains  of  a  people  having  kindred  ancestors.  I  have  else¬ 
where  offered  the  suggestion  that  the  building  of  Mitla  was 
done  by  the  Nahuas,  and  that  the  Zapotecan  occupancy  was  the 
result  of  conquest.  This  is  borne  out  by  the  character  of  the 
mural  paintings  at  Mitla,  which  are  Nahuan  in  character. 
Furthermore,  our  extensive  excavations  carried  on  around  the 
principal  buildings  and  in  different  parts  of  the  Mitla  valley, 
failed  to  bring  to  light  any  traces  of  Zapotecan  pottery  or  the 
characteristic  features  of  the  tombs  discovered  in  the  Oaxaca 
valley.  The  material  from  the  vicinity  of  Mitla  resembling 
Zapotecan  workmanship  has  all  been  found  on  or  near  the  sur¬ 
face  of  the  ground. 

Regarding  the  significance  of  the  cruciform  shape  of  the 
Mitla  tombs,  which  are  by  far  the  most  elaborate  and  important 
burial  chambers  in  the  New  World,  both  in  size  and  beauty  of 
stonework,  we  may  state  that  the  cross  is  not  uncommon  in  an¬ 
cient  Mexican  remains,  and  had  a  deep  significance  with  the 
ancient  peoples  of  this  portion  of  our  continent.  Brinton  writes 
concerning  the  cross  in  ancient  America  as  follows:  “As  the 


190 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


emblem  of  the  winds  who  dispense  the  fertilizing  showers  it  is 
emphatically  the  tree  of  our  life,  our  subsistence  and  our  health. 
It  never  had  any  other  meaning  in  America,  and  if,  as  has  been 
said,  the  tombs  of  Mexicans  were  cruciform,  it  was  perhaps 
with  reference  to  a  resurrection  and  a  future  life  as  portrayed 
under  this  symbol,  indicating  that  the  buried  body  would  rise 
by  the  action  of  the  four  spirits  of  the  world  as  the  buried  seed 
takes  on  a  new  existence  when  watered  by  the  vernal  showers.”  1 
Diguet  attributes  the  cruciform  plan  to  the  cult  of  the  Nahuan 
deity  Tlaloc,  the  God  of  Rain.  Undoubtedly  the  form  of  a  cros9 
in  these  structures  was  connected  with  the  cult  of  Quetzalcoatl, 
and  is  proof  of  the  widespread  range  of  the  Nahuan  pantheon, 
for  we  find  his  worship  throughout  the  area  of  Mayan  culture, 
as  well  as  in  different  parts  of  Mexico. 

Columbia  University 
New  York  City 


'  Brinton,  Myths  of  the  New  World,  p.  116. 


CONVENTIONALISM  AND  REALISM  IN  MAYA 
ART  AT  COPAN,  WITH  SPECIAL  REFERENCE 
TO  THE  TREATMENT  OF  THE  MACAW 


BY 

George  Byron  Gordon 

SOME  years  ago  I  undertook  a  study  of  Maya  decorative  art, 
and  was  for  a  time  engaged  upon  an  analysis  of  the  various 
motives  that  make  up  this  decoration.  The  subject  ex¬ 
panded  so  much  under  investigation,  the  bulk  of  material  became 
so  large  and  my  notes  so  voluminous,  that  I  was  obliged  for  lack 
of  time  to  restrict  my  subject  more  and  more,  and  at  last  to  con¬ 
fine  myself  to  the  Serpent  Motive.  The  result  appeared  in  the 
Transactions  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  Museum  for 
1905.  So  far  as  my  investigations  at  that  time  applied  to  the 
general  field  of  Maya  art,  they  have  remained  unfinished,  with 
little  prospect  of  being  resumed  by  me.  On  going  over  some  of 
my  notes  however,  several  topics  relating  to  Maya  decorative  art 
offer  themselves  as  subjects  for  special  treatment,  but  most  of 
these  would  require  to  be  treated  at  too  great  length  to  suit  my 
present  purpose.  One,  however,  satisfies  the  conditions  very  well 
and  meets  my  requirements,  since  it  can  be  treated  very  briefly 
and  at  the  same  time  affords  such  a  good  example  of  certain 
qualities  exhibited  by  Maya  art  and  illustrates  certain  of  its 
striking  tendencies. 


192  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  tendencies  to  which  I  refer  are  most  clearly  marked  at 
Copan  and  may  be  said  to  be  characteristic  of  the  decorative  art 
of  that  city  in  particular.  The  first  of  these  is  a  tendency  toward 
exaggeration  which  marks  the  representation  of  animals.  This 
phase  corresponds  to  a  certain  freedom  on  the  part  of  the  artist, 
who  in  his  interpretation  of  nature  was  bound  neither  by  a 
desire  for  realism  nor  by  the  conditions  of  his  art.  He  was 
guided  in  a  general  way  by  a  tradition  that  stimulated  his  imag¬ 
ination  and  betrayed  itself  in  fanciful  pictures.  At  the  same 
time,  the  Maya  artists  never  produced  a  wholly  imaginary  animal 
or  invented  one  outright.  All  of  their  animal  pictures  are  de¬ 
rived  from  nature,  and  pretend,  throughout  many  wayward  de¬ 
velopments,  to  stand  for  a  true  interpretation  of  natural  phenom¬ 
ena.  The  influence  of  tradition  was  so  powerful  however,  that  at 
no  point  did  this  interpretation  become  realism.  The  general 
tendency  indeed  was  away  from  realism,  and  at  many  points  this 
tendency  carried  so  far  that  artistic  products  abandoned  the 
character  of  representation  entirely,  and,  losing  all  trace  of  nat¬ 
ural  conditions,  became  pure  conventionalism.  At  Copan,  how¬ 
ever,  during  the  later  period  of  its  existence,  there  was  a  move¬ 
ment  in  the  opposite  direction,  when  sculpture  at  all  events  ex¬ 
hibited  a  much  greater  degree  of  realism  than  before.  The 
monument  that  marks  this  development  best  is  the  hieroglyphic 
stairway,  which  I  have  shown  elsewhere  to  have  a  late  date. 
A  comparison  of  the  seated  figures  on  this  structure  with 
the  older  statues  will  serve  to  show  to  what  extent  the 
traditional  methods  had  been  overcome.  The  greater  free¬ 
dom  and  naturalness  of  these  figures,  the  pose  of  the  body, 
the  position  of  the  limbs,  and  the  carving  of  certain  portions  in 


MAYA  ART  AT  COPAN 


193 


the  round  would  seem  to  mark  a  new  era  in  sculpture.  The 
rattlesnakes  surmounting  the  headdress  of  one  of  these  statues 
and  the  crouching  figure  in  one  of  the  fallen  steps  show  in  a 
marked  degree  the  same  successful  effort  to  break  away  from 
the  traditional  methods.  It  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that 
the  hieroglyphic  stairway  is  the  only  monument  corresponding  to 
this  period  of  improved  conditions,  because,  although  no  dates 


Fig.  1 — Head  of  Macaw  from  Stela  B,  Copan. 

have  been  found  upon  them  to  determine  with  accuracy  their 
relative  age,  the  great  temples  crowning  the  northern  part  of 
the  main  structure  present  characteristics  which  would  seem 
to  link  them  in  point  of  time  with  the  hieroglyphic  stairway. 
It  was  a  period  during  which  new  ideas  struggled,  with  the  old, 
for  it  is  evident  that  ancient  usage  and  conventional  methods 
still  exerted  a  very  powerful  influence,  not  only  affecting  the 
whole  body  of  contemporary  art,  but  even  evading,  sometimes 


194  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


quite  successfully,  the  tendency  of  the  time  and  perpetuating 
themselves  in  works  that  copied  as  nearly  as  possible  the  ancient 
monuments.  I  can  not  undertake  to  discuss  these  various  condi¬ 
tions,  and  my  purpose  is  simply  to  illustrate  by  a  single  example 
the  two  historic  phases  which  I  have  distinguished  in  the  art 
of  Copan,  the  tendency  to  exaggeration  that  marks  representa¬ 
tion  at  an  earlier  stage  and  a  return  to  realism  at  a  later  stage. 

My  example  is  the  macaw,  in  modern  Maya  moo  and  in 
Cakchiquel  kakix ,  as  it  is  found  represented  in  stone  at  Copan. 
Figure  i  shows  the  head  or  beak  of  this  bird  as  it  appears  upon 
Stela  B,  and  figure  2  shows  the  remarkably  life-like  head  of  the 


Fig.  2 — Head  of  Macaw  from  Hieroglyphic  Stairway,  Copan. 

same  bird  from  the  hieroglyphic  stairway,  or  from  the  temple  to 
which  it  led.  The  tendency  to  exaggeration  is  well  illustrated 
by  the  enormous  extension  of  the  beak  in  the  first  example,  an 
extension  that  has  suggested  to  some  travelers  an  elephant’s 
trunk.  The  other  head  is  of  gigantic  size,  and  fragments  of 
claws  and  wings  of  corresponding  dimensions,  carved  with  equal 
spirit,  found  among  the  debris  of  the  stairway,  indicate  a  lively 


MAYA  ART  AT  COPAN 


i9S 


and  very  successful  ambition  to  carve  a  life-like  image  of  the  bird 
that  must  have  dominated  in  a  very  effective  way  that  part  of  the 
great  structure  to  which  it  was  assigned.  The  macaw  does 
not  appear  to  figure  in  Maya  art  outside  of  Copan,  except  in 
the  inscriptions,  where  the  head  does  duty  as  the  symbol  of  the 
month  Kayab,  in  which  capacity  it  becomes  everywhere  con¬ 
ventionalized,  undergoing  various  modifications  until  it  has  been 
mistaken  for  the  head  of  a  turtle. 

The  Museum,  University  of  Pennsylvania 
Philadelphia 


THE  EXPLORATION  OF  A  BURIAL-ROOM  IN 
PUEBLO  BONITO,  NEW  MEXICO 

BY 


George  H.  Pepper 


HE  great  series  of  ruins  in  northwestern  New  Mexico 


known  as  the  Chaco  Canyon  group  was  first  brought 


to  public  notice  in  1776,  when  Don  Bernardo  de  Mier 
y  Pacheco  visited  and  mapped  the  region;  but  it  was  not  until 
1844  that  these  ruins  were  mentioned  in  print.1  Several  de¬ 
scriptions  of  the  ruins  were  published  during  the  late  forties  and 
early  fifties,  notably  those  of  Lieut.  J.  H.  Simpson  and  William 
H.  Jackson ;  but  it  remained  for  Professor  F.  W.  Putnam  to  plan 
the  first  expedition  for  the  exploration  of  one  of  these  walled-in 
towns.  He  had  been  interested  in  this  group  of  pueblos  from 
the  time  the  first  Government  reports  concerning  them  appeared, 
and  had  looked  forward  to  the  day  when  he  could  investigate 
one  of  them. 

In  1895  he  received  promise  of  cooperation  and  pecuniary 
aid  from  Messrs  B.  Talbot  B.  Hyde  and  F.  E.  Hyde,  Jr., 
of  New  York  City;  and  in  the  spring  of  1896  an  expedition  was 
sent  to  the  Chaco  canyon  with  instructions  to  confine  the  work 
of  that  year  to  the  ruined  Pueblo  Bonito.  Owing  to  other  duties 
that  claimed  his  time,  Professor  Putnam  could  not  assume 
active  charge  of  the  field  operations,  and  it  was  the  good  fortune 


1  Josiah  Gregg,  Commerce  of  the  Prairies,  1844. 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  197 


of  the  writer  to  be  appointed  to  that  position.  The  scientific 
work  was  planned  by,  and  the  investigations  were  conducted 
under,  the  direction  of  Professor  Putnam,  and  whatever  results 
were  obtained  may  be  ascribed  to  his  untiring  interest  and 
efforts. 

The  following  description  concerns  one  of  the  most  inter¬ 
esting  rooms  explored,  and  the  object  of  the  paper  is  to  record  the 
remarkable  ceremonial  objects  and  other  material  found  therein. 
This  room  is  situated  in  the  northwestern  part  of  Pueblo  Bonito, 
and  near  it  are  several  other  rooms  in  which  bodies  had  been 
buried  and  ceremonial  objects  stored.  It  is  33  of  the  author’s 
notes,  and  will  be  so  designated  when  reference  thereto  is  made. 

Room  33  is  directly  west  of  and  connected  with  room  32. 
When  the  latter  was  first  entered,  it  was  found  that  the  sand  had 
almost  filled  the  western  doorway,  but  there  was  enough  space 
remaining  to  allow  passage  through  it,  and  into  room  33.  En¬ 
trance  was  gained  by  the  writer,  and,  with  the  aid  of  a  candle, 
certain  objects  were  seen  which  were  in  keeping  with  the  cere¬ 
monial  sticks  that  protruded  from  the  sand  in  the  room  already 
examined.  The  room  proved  to  be  somewhat  smaller  than  room 
32;  but  the  sand  had  not  filled  it  so  deeply  as  the  other  room. 
The  first  object  to  claim  attention  in  room  33  was  a  bunch  of 
five  ceremonial  sticks  that  had  been  thrust  between  the  ceiling 
beams  in  the  southwestern  corner  of  the  room.  Directly  under 
them,  and  protruding  from  the  sand,  was  a  burial-mat  made  of 
osiers  sewed  together  side  by  side.  In  the  southeastern  corner 
the  tops  of  two  ceremonial  sticks  projected  above  the  sand;  in  the 
northwestern  corner  was  another  ceremonial  stick;  and  in 


198  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


the  northeastern  corner  of  the  room  were  what  afterward  proved 
to  be  two  wooden  flageolets. 

The  ceremonial  sticks  in  the  southwestern  corner  of  the 
room  were  the  first  objects  to  be  removed.  The  beams  extended 
east  and  west.  The  points  of  the  sticks  had  been  thrust  into 
the  spaces  between  the  beams,  the  carved  ends  projecting  at  least 
a  foot  below  the  ceiling.  Not  having  been  exposed  to  dampness, 
all  the  sticks  are  in  a  state  of  perfect  preservation  (see  pi.  VII,  2). 
Three  of  them  are  of  the  subdivision  of  type  1  shown  in  plate  V; 
that  is,  of  the  type  having  a  carved  knob  on  the  end,  drilled  and 
having  a  groove  on  the  raised  band  at  the  opposite  end  of  the 
handle.  These  sticks  measure  in  length  1  m.  8.5  cm.,  1  m.  3.5 
cm.,  and  1  m.  7  cm.  respectively,  the  average  diameter  being  1.3 
cm.  A  deposit  of  nearly  three  hundred  sticks  was  found  in  room 
32:  the  five  show  clearly  one  feature  that  could  not  be  studied 
to  advantage  in  the  specimens  from  this  room,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  the  tapering  ends  of  most  of  them  had  been  destroyed; 
namely,  the  gradual  and  symmetrical  tapering  of  the  ends  oppo¬ 
site  the  carved  handles.  Great  care  was  evidently  employed  in 
making  this  end  of  the  stick  cylindrical.  On  certain  parts  of  the 
sticks  the  marks  of  the  grinding  implement  may  be  seen,  but  it  is 
evident  that  the  surfaces  have  been  polished,  probably  by  means 
of  a  finely  powdered  substance  and  deerskin.  The  drilled  ends 
of  these  sticks  have  practically  the  same  diameter.  On  one  speci¬ 
men,  directly  below  the  drilled  portion,  is  a  two-strand  yucca 
cord,  a  knot  at  one  end  marking  the  point  of  attachment  of 
a  feather. 

The  fourth  specimen  is  of  the  third  type  (pi.  V,  3)  ;  that  is, 
the  one  having  the  flattened  end.  Instead  of  uniformly  plane, 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  199 


this  stick  is  elliptical  in  parts;  the  one  surface,  however,  always 
preserving  the  full  rounded  form.  The  specimen  is  absolutely 
perfect,  and  measures  1  m.  28.2  cm.  in  length,  having  a  width  of 
2.9  cm.  at  the  blade-end  and  2  cm.  at  the  opposite  end,  and  an 
average  thickness  of  1.3  cm. 

The  fifth  specimen  is  of  the  fourth  type  (pi.  V,  4),  and  is 
somewhat  irregular  in  shape.  It  is  2  cm.  in  diameter  at  the  end 
opposite  the  blade,  and  tapers  gradually  toward  the  opposite 
or  blade-end.  The  blade  itself  is  1.6  cm.  in  width,  and  the  stick 
is  1  m.  6  cm.  in  length. 

After  these  sticks  were  removed,  the  flageolets  in  the  north¬ 
eastern  corner  of  the  room  were  uncovered.  As  already  stated, 
there  were  two  of  these;  one  (H-4563)  protruding  11  cm.  above 
the  surface,  the  other  (H-4560)  8  cm.:  they  were  standing  in  an 
upright  position  between  two  posts  and  the  northern  wall.  It 
was  deemed  advisable  to  remove  the  flageolets  before  the  general 
work  of  excavation  was  begun,  in  order  that  there  might  be  no 
danger  of  anything  falling  upon  them. 

Specimen  H-4563  (pi.  I,  3)  was  the  first  to  be  removed. 
This  was  covered  with  a  deposit  of  earth  and  vegetable  mold ; 
but  on  parts  of  the  surface  of  the  portion  protruding  from  the 
sand  could  be  detected  decorative  designs  in  black  and  in  colors, 
over  which  was  a  coating  of  gum  having  the  appearance  of  shel¬ 
lac  or  varnish.  When  the  specimen  was  cleaned  in  the  Museum, 
it  was  found  that  the  entire  surface  was  covered  with  an  elabor¬ 
ate  decoration  in  black,  orange,  and  green.  The  note-holes 
proved  to  be  four  in  number,  with  intervals,  on  the  average,  of 
6.1  cm.  between  them,  each  6  mm.  in  diameter. 


200 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


This  flageolet  is  of  the  “self”  type;  that  is,  the  kind  that  was 
played  without  a  mouthpiece.  It  is  69  cm.  in  length,  2.3  by  2.1 
cm.  in  diameter  at  the  bell-end,  and  1.5  cm.  in  diameter  at  the 
mouth-end,  and  tapers  from  the  former  to  the  latter. 

In  plate  I,  2,  the  design  is  shown  as  it  would  appear  if  on  a 
plane  surface  —  a  combination  of  cloud-terraces  and  circles 
separated  by  encircling  bands. 

This  flageolet  is  extraordinary  on  account  of  the  elaborate 
decoration.  Another  interesting  feature  is  the  coating  of  gum 
which  covers  the  entire  surface.  This  use  of  such  material  by 
the  ancient  Pueblo  Indians  was  suggested  by  the  late  Frank  H. 
Cushing;  but  some  students  doubted  whether  any  process  of  this 
kind  was  ever  employed.  The  finding  of  this  flageolet  having 
the  part  that  was  above  the  surface  in  perfect  condition,  sets  at 
rest  all  doubts  on  this  point.  The  exact  nature  of  the  material 
used,  however,  has  not  been  ascertained.  When  applied,  the 
coating  was  no  doubt  transparent,  but  at  the  present  time  the 
surface  is  semi-opaque  and  cracked. 

The  drilling  of  this  specimen  is  also  an  interesting  feature. 
At  the  bell-end  the  sides  are  only  2  mm.  thick;  from  this  point 
they  gradually  increase  in  thickness  to  6  mm.  for  one  side  and  3 
mm.  for  the  opposite  side,  at  the  center.  Thus  it  is  evident,  that, 
in  making  the  flageolet,  the  hole  was  not  drilled  uniformly  in  the 
center.  The  periphery  of  the  aperture  in  the  mouthpiece  is  bev¬ 
eled  so  that  it  is  reduced  to  an  average  thickness  of  1  mm. 

When  discovered,  the  second  flageolet  (H-4560)  was  lying 
but  a  few  inches  from  the  one  just  described.  It  is  absolutely 
plain,  there  being  no  decoration  on  the  surface.  This  flageolet, 
as  shown  in  plate  II,  1,  is  69.5  cm.  long.  The  bell-end  averages 


Painted  flageolet  (H-4563)  found  in  the  northeastern  corner 


Pepper — Pueblo  Bonito  Plate  I 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  201 


2.5  cm.  in  diameter,  and  the  mouth-end  1.7  cm.  As  in  the  other 
specimen,  there  is  a  gradual  taper  from  the  bell-end  to  the 
mouth-end.  This  flageolet  is  not  so  finely  made  as  the  decorated 
specimen.  At  the  bell-end  the  sides  average  4  mm.  in  thickness, 
while  the  hole  is  8  mm.  in  diameter;  the  corresponding  dimen¬ 
sions  are  somewhat  more  than  4  mm.  and  8  mm.  respectively. 
This  specimen  is  warped,  and  is  broken  in  two  near  the  center. 
There  are  four  holes,  the  distances  between  the  first  and  second, 
beginning  at  the  mouth-end,  being  5.6  cm. ;  between  the  second 
and  third,  6.8  cm. ;  and  between  the  third  and  fourth,  5.6  cm. : 
the  holes  average  6  mm.  in  diameter.  This  also  is  a  “self” 
flageolet.  It  is  made  of  cottonwood  carefully  dressed  smooth, 
but  devoid  of  polish.  Both  ends  are  flat,  and  the  edges  are  not 
rounded. 

Below  the  surface  of  the  sand-deposit,  within  a  few  inches 
of  the  flageolets  just  described,  the  mouth-end  of  another  flageo¬ 
let  was  found.  It  is  practically  the  same  in  style  as  the  end  of 
the  undecorated  specimen,  and  has  been  broken  at  a  point  which 
leaves  in  evidence  half  of  the  first  note-hole.  The  fragment  is 
13  cm.  long  and  averages  1.5  cm.  in  diameter  near  the  mouth- 
end,  the  aperture  at  this  point  being  8  mm.  in  diameter.  This 
specimen  also  is  undecorated. 

Among  the  objects  found  in  the  northeastern  corner  were 
ceremonial  sticks,  the  description  of  which  will  be  given  after 
that  of  a  series  of  flageolets  found  in  the  southeastern  corner. 
These  flageolets,  five  in  all,  were  found  beneath  the  surface,  in 
the  space  between  a  post  and  the  southern  wall.  In  form  they 
are  similar  to  the  plain  specimen  found  in  the  northeastern  cor- 


202 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


ner;  but  there  are  individual  differences  that  make  them  espe¬ 
cially  interesting  from  the  scientific  standpoint. 

The  first  flageolet  (H-4557)  differs  from  the  plain  one 
just  mentioned  in  having  a  ridge  1.2  cm.  broad,  which  forms  a 
band  at  the  end  of  the  bell  (pi.  II,  3).  From  the  evidence  at 
hand,  it  would  seem  that  this  form  typifies  the  squash-flower, 
which,  in  the  modern  flageolets  used  by  the  Flute  priests  of  the 
Hopi,  is  represented  by  a  bell-shaped  piece  of  squash-rind 
attached  to  the  end  of  the  flute.  Dr  J.  Walter  Fewkes  and  the 
late  Mr  Frank  H.  Cushing  mentioned  this  fact  on  examination 
of  these  specimens.  With  the  exception  of  the  carved  end,  the 
flageolet  is  absolutely  plain.  It  is  36  cm.  long,  2.6  cm.  in 
diameter  at  the  bell-end,  and  averages  4  cm.  in  thickness.  The 
opening  opposite  the  mouth-end,  as  in  all  of  the  flageolets  of  this 
series,  is  caused  by  a  tapering  countersink  carried  to  the  hole 
which  is  drilled  through  the  instrument.  The  distance  from  the 
edge  to  the  point  where  the  main  hole  begins  averages  2  cm.,  the 
diameter  of  the  general  boring  averaging  7  mm.  In  this  speci¬ 
men,  only  two  note-holes,  averaging  3  mm.  in  diameter,  have 
been  preserved:  the  interval  between  them  is  4.2  cm. 

The  second  flageolet  removed  (H-4558;  pi.  II,  4)  is  of 
the  same  shape  as  the  plain  one  from  the  other  corner.  It 
is  35  cm.  long,  2.1  cm.  in  diameter  at  the  bell-end,  and  averages 
1.3  cm.  at  the  mouth-end;  the  taper  from  the  bell-end  is  gradual. 
The  rim  at  the  bell-end  averages  3  cm.  in  thickness.  The  mouth- 
end  is  missing,  the  flageolet  having  been  broken  at  a  point  just 
below  the  second  hole.  The  interval  between  the  holes  is  4.1 
cm.;  the  holes  are  3  mm.  in  diameter.  All  of  the  flageolets  in 
this  series  were  found  lying  with  the  bell-end  upward;  the 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  203 


mouth-ends  of  all  but  one  specimen  were  decayed  to  so  great  an 
extent  that  they  could  not  be  preserved. 

The  third  flageolet  (H-4559 ;  pi.  II,  2)  is  a  perfect  specimen : 
it  has  the  bell-shaped  end,  and,  as  in  the  flageolet  last  described, 
there  is  a  gentle  taper  from  the  bell-edge  to  the  main  part 
of  the  flageolet.  There  are  no  decorations  on  the  surface. 
The  specimen  measures  51.5  cm.  in  length,  and  in  diameter  2.5 
cm.  at  the  bell-end  and  1.5  cm.  at  the  mouth-end.  There  are 
four  holes,  as  in  the  other  specimens.  The  hole  at  the  mouth-end 
is  5  mm.  in  diameter.  The  interval  between  the  first  and  the 
second  hole  from  the  mouth-end  is  4.5  cm.;  between  the  second 
and  the  third,  4.7  cm.;  and  between  the  third  and  the  fourth, 
4.3  cm. :  the  holes  average  4  mm.  in  diameter. 

The  fourth  flageolet  (H-4561;  pi.  II,  5)  is  of  exceptional 
form  in  that  it  bears  on  the  surface  an  animal  figure  carved  in 
relief,  identified  by  the  late  Mr  Cushing  as  that  of  a  bear. 
The  specimen  is  4.2  cm.  in  length  and  2.1  cm.  in  width  at  the 
shoulder:  the  head  is  10.3  cm.  from  the  bell-end.  The  height 
of  the  figure  above  the  general  surface  of  the  flageolet  averages 
3  mm.  As  may  be  seen  in  the  plate,  the  head  and  legs  are 
brought  out  in  relief,  and  the  eyes  are  formed  by  a  slight  pro¬ 
tuberance  on  each  side  of  the  head.  The  snout  is  flat,  resembling 
the  snout  of  a  frog  rather  than  that  of  a  bear.  The  bell-end  of 
the  flageolet  has  a  raised  collar-like  piece,  similar  to  that  of 
figure  3,  this  band  being  1.5  cm.  in  width.  The  fragment  of 
the  flageolet  here  shown  is  36  cm.  in  length,  and  the  bell-end  is 
2.5  cm.  in  diameter:  the  edge  averages  4  mm.  in  thickness.  Only 
two  holes,  each  4  mm.  in  diameter,  remain,  the  interval  between 
them  being  4.3  cm.  The  surface  of  this  instrument  was  carefully 


204 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


smoothed;  but,  apart  from  the  carved  figure,  there  are  no 
decorations. 

The  fifth  flageolet  (H-4562;  pi.  II,  6)  bears  on  its  surface 
an  animal  figure  carved  in  relief,  the  work  being  similar  to  that 
on  the  specimen  just  described.  The  figure  is  4.2  cm.  in  length. 
The  nose  is  6.5  cm.  from  the  bell-end.  The  breadth  from  the 
outer  extremities  of  the  paws  is  2.3  cm.  Only  half  of  the  animal 
is  shown.  The  head,  the  upper  part  of  the  body,  and  the  front- 
legs  are  carved  in  relief.  At  the  posterior  end  the  figure  is 
raised  seven  millimeters,  and  on  a  level  with  the  ears,  eight 
millimeters  above  the  surface.  The  animal  represented  is  evi¬ 
dently  a  mountain-lion,  as  the  end  of  the  tail  is  shown  lying 
along  the  median  line  of  the  back.  The  paws  are  flattened, 
as  they  naturally  would  be  in  the  case  of  the  animal  mentioned; 
and  the  eyes  and  ears  are  carved  in  relief.  The  long  taper¬ 
ing  head  causes  the  figure  to  resemble  that  of  a  lizard  rather 
than  that  of  a  lion,  especially  as  there  is  a  portion  cut 
away  under  the  head,  causing  it  to  appear  very  thin;  but,  even 
though  the  tail  were  not  shown  in  position  on  the  back,  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  the  ears  indicates  clearly  that  the  figure  was  not  meant 
to  represent  one  of  the  lower  forms  of  vertebrates,  as  a  lizard. 

The  fragment  of  the  flageolet  illustrated  measures  38.5  cm. 
in  length,  and  averages  2.5  cm.  in  diameter  at  the  bell-end.  The 
thickness  of  the  edge  averages  4  mm.  Three  holes,  each  3  mm. 
in  diameter,  are  shown,  the  intervals  between  them  being  4.1  cm. 
In  most  of  the  flageolets,  the  holes  are  not  perfectly  round,  the 
longer  axis  being  always  on  the  median  line;  but  whether  this 
was  intentional,  or  was  due  to  the  mode  of  drilling,  cannot  be 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  205 


determined.  Apart  from  the  raised  figure,  this  flageolet  is 
devoid  of  ornamentation. 

Returning  to  the  northeastern  corner  of  the  room  where 
the  first  flageolets  were  unearthed,  there  is  a  series  of  ceremonial 
sticks  to  be  considered.  These  were  found  between  the  post  and 
the  northern  wall;  none  of  them  projected  above  the  surface. 
These  specimens  having  been  protected  to  a  great  extent  from 
the  action  of  water,  the  upper  halves  of  most  of  them  are  in  a 
state  of  perfect  preservation.  There  were  eight  of  the  long  cere¬ 
monial  sticks  in  this  deposit,  and  two  of  the  small  curved  sticks 
which  were  evidently  used  with  them. 

Types  of  Ceremonial  Sticks 

Type  No.  I  has  two  knobs  carved  on  the  handle.  The  specimens  are  of 
various  forms  and  sizes;  but  all  of  this  type  are  characterized  by  the  plain  prox¬ 
imal  knob.  A  subdivision  of  this  type  has  a  hole  drilled  through  the  proximal 
knob;  while  the  second  knob,  or  collar,  is  grooved. 

Type  No.  2  has  the  handle-end  carved  in  the  shape  of  a  bear’s  claw.  All 
specimens  of  this  type  have  an  enlargement  at  the  base  of  the  claw.  A  subdi¬ 
vision  of  this  type  shows  no  enlargement  at  the  base  of  the  claw. 

Type  No.  3  has  a  spatula-shaped  end,  and  the  stick  itself  is  hemispherical  in 
cross-section. 

Type  No.  4  has  a  wedge-shaped  end,  the  stick  itself  being  round.  A  sub¬ 
division  of  this  type  shows  the  handle  with  a  binding  of  sinew  and  a  second  one 
with  a  binding  of  cord. 

There  were  also  three  sticks  having  flattened  ends,  and  a 
variant  of  this  type,  which  is  No.  4  of  the  types  given  above. 
The  largest  specimen  of  type  1  has  a  head  4  cm.  high  and 
4.5  cm.  broad;  the  other  two  are  very  much  smaller.  One 
specimen,  of  peculiar  form,  in  this  group,  has  a  barrel-shaped 
piece  carved  on  the  end,  through  which  a  cylindrical  hole  was 
drilled  laterally.  At  each  end  is  a  ridge,  giving  the  object  the 


206 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


appearance  of  a  spool.  It  is  2.3  cm.  long  and  1.5  cm.  in  diameter. 
All  of  these  specimens  have  a  groove  in  the  collar-like  piece, 
which  in  three  of  them  is  quite  deep. 

This  deposit  contained  two  specimens  of  type  3,  the  ones 
having  the  thin  blades,  which,  in  these  specimens,  average  3  cm. 
in  width.  There  is  one  specimen  of  the  fourth  type,  having  the 


end  flattened:  as  in  the  case  of  some  sticks  found  in  room  32, 
a  portion  directly  under  the  end  of  the  blade  is  worn  away  to 
some  extent,  as  though  from  use.  The  eighth  specimen  is  only 
a  fragment;  but  the  taper  at  what  would  be  the  carved  end  in 
the  other  specimens  is  very  pronounced. 

The  two  small  ceremonial  sticks,  which  were  evidently 
meant  to  be  thrown,  are  shown  in  figure  1 ;  one  of  these 


Carved  flageolets  (H-4561,  H  4562)  found  with  Nos. 
FLAGEOLETS  FROM  BURIAL  ROOM 


Pepper — Pueblo  Bonito 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  207 


is  plain,  the  other  has  carved  arms.  The  carvings  are  in 
the  form  of  collars,  similar  to  those  of  the  ceremonial  sticks 
belonging  to  the  subdivision  of  the  first  type.  Directly  above 
one  of  these  collars  are  remains  of  two  bands  of  heavy  yucca 
cord.  The  specimen  having  carved  arms  measures  9.5  cm.  from 
end  to  end,  the  arms  being  7  cm.  in  length. 

In  the  southeastern  corner,  where  the  five  flutes  were  found, 
were  discovered  eleven  ceremonial  sticks.  One  of  these,  of  a 
very  unusual  form,  was  standing  with  the  carved  end  protruding 
above  the  surface.  This  stick  is  a  variant  or  subtype  of  type  2, 
which  has  the  end  carved  like  a  claw.  It  would  seem  that  a 
natural  branch  of  the  end  of  the  stick  had  been  utilized;  at  all 
events  this  end  of  the  stick  is  smaller,  rounded,  and  bent  into  a 
circle,  with  the  end  brought  back  to  the  starting-point.  As  with 
most  of  the  sticks  in  this  deposit,  the  opposite  end  is  broken;  and 
its  original  length,  therefore,  cannot  be  ascertained.  It  is  the 
only  specimen  of  the  form  found  in  this  group. 

Of  type  1,  having  the  flattened  knobs  on  the  ends  and  the 
plain  collars  below,  there  were  two  specimens,  one  of  which  had 
a  two-strand  yucca  cord  tied  just  above  the  collar.  The  subdivi¬ 
sion  of  this  type  having  the  ends  drilled  and  the  collar  grooved 
is  represented  by  three  specimens  and  one  freak,  the  end  of  the 
latter  not  having  been  drilled,  although,  as  in  the  other  speci¬ 
mens,  the  collar  is  deeply  grooved.  One  of  these  has  a  very  large 
end,  through  which  a  semicircular  hole  is  drilled.  This  knob 
is  5  cm.  long,  4.3  cm.  broad,  and  2.1  cm.  thick:  it  is  ground  to 
a  well-defined  edge,  and  in  its  original  condition  the  surface 
was  no  doubt  polished  to  some  degree. 


208 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Among  the  specimens  found  in  this  deposit  are  the  distal 
ends  of  two  specimens  of  type  3 ;  that  is,  those  having  the  thin 
flattened  ends.  Most  of  the  specimens  in  room  32  having  been 
standing  with  this  end  downward,  water  had  affected  them,  caus¬ 
ing  this  portion  to  decay.  It  was  therefore  interesting  to  find 
a  specimen  that  showed  the  finish  and  the  taper  of  the 
opposite  end  of  a  stick  of  this  type.  There  is  a  small  fragment 
of  a  ceremonial  stick  of  type  4  and  a  specimen  representing  a 
subdivision  of  this  type;  namely,  that  having  the  end  covered 
with  bands  of  knotted  cord,  which  is  similar  to  sticks  found  in 
room  32.  Fortunately,  this  stick  is  complete.  Its  length  is 
1  m.  22  cm.  The  surface  is  rounded,  but  the  knots  still  project 
from  it. 

In  the  northwestern  corner  were  found  three  fragments  of 
ceremonial  sticks,  from  one  of  which  the  end  is  missing:  this 
has  a  round  handle,  similar  to  the  handles  in  types  2  and  4.  The 
second  is  of  type  2  form,  but  has  the  end  merging  into  the  handle, 
this  feature  placing  it  in  the  subdivision  of  this  type.  The  third 
stick  is  round,  except  at  the  end,  where  it  is  flattened  on  both 
sides:  from  the  polish  on  both  surfaces,  it  had  been  used  appar¬ 
ently  as  a  digging-stick.  Standing  between  the  post  and  the 
northern  wall,  in  this  corner,  was  a  large  pole  nearly  1^  m.  in 
height,  and  more  than  5  cm.  in  diameter.  The  ends  are  squared, 
but  the  surface  does  not  seem  to  have  been  worked.  Its  purpose, 
and  the  reason  for  placing  it  in  the  room  with  the  ceremonial 
sticks,  could  not  be  determined. 

In  the  southwestern  corner  were  brought  to  light  one  stick 
of  type  1  and  a  fragment  of  the  end  of  a  second  stick. 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  209 


While  considering  the  ceremonial  sticks,  it  may  be  well  to 
complete  the  description  of  the  various  objects  of  this  nature 
found  in  the  room.  It  is  deemed  advisable  to  follow  this  pro¬ 
cedure  even  at  the  risk  of  anticipating  the  work,  as  none  of  these 
objects  properly  could  be  associated  with  any  of  the  room  burials. 

One  specimen  of  type  4  (H-4514)  was  found  near  the  north¬ 
ern  wall,  lying  parallel  thereto;  the  upper  surface  being  five 
feet  below  the  ceiling-beams.  This  specimen  has  a  secondary 
binding  of  sinew  four  centimeters  from  the  end;  also  a  binding 
near  the  end  of  the  blade  —  a  feature  noted  in  some  of  the 
specimens  of  this  type  from  room  32;  but  the  addition  of  the 
second  band  is  unusual.  This  specimen  is  complete.  It  meas¬ 
ures  1  m.  24  cm.  in  length,  and  1.7  cm.  in  width  at  the  blade-end. 

Another  specimen  (H-4531)  is  a  ceremonial  stick  of  type  4. 
It  is  the  crudest  of  all  the  specimens  found  in  this  room,  the 
bases  of  the  twigs  projecting  from  the  surface  in  places.  This 
specimen  was  found  four  feet  below  the  ceiling-beams,  lying  par¬ 
allel  with,  and  almost  against,  the  western  wall. 

Scattered  through  the  debris  in  the  room,  and  intermingled 
with  the  burials,  were  three  specimens  of  type  1  and  a  fragment 
of  another  ceremonial  stick,  probably  of  this  type;  two  speci¬ 
mens  of  type  3,  having  the  thin  blade-end;  and  two  of  type  4, 
both  of  which  are  devoid  of  binding  at  the  blade-end  (making 
in  all  thirty-nine  ceremonial  sticks)  ;  one  large  ceremonial  pole; 
and  two  of  the  small  angular  ceremonial  sticks  made  to  be 
thrown. 

In  considering  the  contents  of  this  room,  it  must  be  remem¬ 
bered  that  the  greater  part  of  the  material  had  been  affected 
from  time  to  time  by  streams  of  water  that  no  doubt  poured 


210 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


through  the  eastern  doorway  after  each  heavy  shower.  The 
swirling  water  displaced  the  parts  of  the  skeletons  to  so  great 
an  extent,  that,  of  the  fourteen  skeletons  unearthed  in  this 
room,  only  two  (Nos.  13,  14)  remained  in  situ;  in  most  cases 
the  under  jaw  had  been  detached,  and  was  found  some  distance 
from  the  skull.  With  the  two  skeletons  just  mentioned  was 
found  a  mass  of  material  that  will  be  described  as  having  been 
found  in  situ.  The  other  objects  from  this  room  —  with  the 
exception  of  the  skulls,  the  pottery  vessels,  and  some  of  the 
turquoise  objects  —  wil  be  treated  in  a  general  way,  as  it  was 
impossible  to  determine  with  which  skeletons  the  various  pieces 
had  been  buried. 

The  first  skeleton  found  (No.  1)  was  lying  on  its  back,  the 
head  resting  on  the  occiput.  The  lower  jaw  was  not  in  place. 
The  head  was  lying  parallel  with  the  southern  wall ;  but  the  body 
extended  in  a  northeasterly  direction.  The  distance  from  the 
ceiling-beams  to  the  nearest  part  of  the  skull  was  4  ft.  6  in., 
the  bones  of  the  body  being  from  three  to  four  inches  higher. 

Skull  No.  2  was  3  ft.  8  in.  from  the  ceiling-beams; 
it  was  lying  on  the  occiput.  To  the  left  side  of  the  head  a  piece 
of  burial  cloth  still  adhered.  Only  the  cervical  vertebrae  re¬ 
mained  in  place,  the  remaining  bones  being  scattered  through 
the  sand. 

Skull  No.  3  was  3  ft.  10  in.  from  the  ceiling-beams, 
resting  on  its  side.  Part  of  the  skull  was  covered  with  fragments 
of  decayed  cloth.  Scattered  about  in  the  sand  near  skulls  Nos. 
2  and  3  were  a  great  many  turquoise  beads  and  pendants,  which 
will  be  considered  later  (see  page  240). 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  21 1 


A  short  distance  northeast  of  skull  No.  2  a  corrugated  bowl 
was  found  (A-H-3656;  pi.  III).  This  bowl  is  oval  in  form,  and 
is  of  the  type  having  a  finely  polished  black  interior;  the  outer 
surface  in  general  is  also  black.  This  specimen  measures  19.6 
cm.  in  length,  12.5  cm.  in  width  at  the  central  part,  and  7  cm. 
in  depth;  from  the  rim  it  tapers  gradually  toward  the  bottom. 
But  few  vessels  of  this  kind  and  shape  are  found  in  the  Chaco 
region. 

To  the  northeast  of  the  bov/1  just  described  a  ceremonial 
object  made  of  reeds  was  found  (B-H-3673 ;  fig.  2).  The  reeds 
had  been  put  together  in  the  form  of 
a  mat,  and  then  rolled,  thereby  form¬ 
ing  a  cylindrical  bundle,  which  was 
covered  with  a  coating  of  cloth.  This 
object  is  9  cm.  long,  4  cm.  wide,  and 
3  cm.  thick,  and  in  shape  and  size  it 
is  similar  to  an  object  found  in  room 
32.  The  flatening  of  the  object  evi¬ 
dently  resulted  from  the  pressure  of 
the  earth  above  it,  it  having  been 
originally  no  doubt  cylindrical  in 
form. 

The  head  of  skeleton  No.  4  was  ly¬ 
ing  with  the  lower  jaw  against  the 
eastern  wall.  The  right  occipital 
eminence  was  the  highest  point,  and 
the  distance  from  it  to  the  ceiling 
was  4  ft.  6  in.  Near  the  head  was  a 
piece  of  galena. 


212 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  next  object  found  was  a  pitcher  (C-H-3674),  which 
was  lying  on  its  side. 

Southwest  of  pitcher  C  was  another  pitcher  (D-H-3623), 
of  gray  ware  and  of  rather  unusual  form.  The  base,  handle, 
and  lower  half  of  the  upper  part,  are  similar  to  corresponding 
features  of  the  ordinary  cylindrical-top  pitchers.  A  white  band 
separates  the  designs  in  black  on  the  upper  part,  and  from  this 
band  the  vessel  tapers  to  the  mouth,  as  may  be  seen  in  plate  ill. 
It  is  12  cm.  in  diameter  at  the  widest  part,  which  is  just  below 
the  base  of  the  handle,  16  cm.  deep,  and  averages  6  cm.  in  diam¬ 
eter  at  the  mouth. 

The  next  object  found  was  a  shell  bracelet  (E-H-3632), 
which  had  decayed  to  so  great  an  extent  that  the  surface  was  the 
consistency  of  hard  chalk. 

The  head  of  skeleton  No.  5  was  found  4  ft.  3  in.  from 
the  ceiling-beams.  Remains  of  a  piece  of  cloth  were  found  on 
the  face,  and  three  strings  of  yucca  cord  were  lying  over  the 
right  eye-socket.  The  body  was  lying  on  its  back,  with  the  head 
turned  so  that  it  rested  on  the  left  side.  Most  of  the  bones  of  the 
body  were  in  place,  the  skeleton  having  suffered  less  from 
the  action  of  water  than  those  above  it.  On  the  eastern  side  of  the 
head,  resting  against  the  occiput,  was  a  cylindrical  jar  (F-H- 
3637;  pi.  III).  This  jar  is  of  the  ordinary  gray  ware,  all  of 
the  decorations  being  in  black:  they  consist  of  vertical  bands 
between  the  handles,  which  are  placed  in  perpendicular  posi¬ 
tion,  and  perforated.  There  is  an  open  “life  line”  on  the  upper 
rim.  The  vessel  is  18  cm.  deep,  12  cm.  in  diameter  at  the 
bottom,  and  averages  9.5  cm.  at  the  top,  where  the  vessel  is 
slightly  flattened. 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  213 


Directly  below  this  specimen  was  a  bowl  of  gray  ware 
(G-H-3643).  As  shown  in  plate  III,  this  bowl  is  of  ordinary 
form,  the  diameter  at  the  rim  being  15  cm.  and  the  depth  3.7  cm. 
The  only  decorations  on  this  bowl  are  a  band  on  the  inner  rim  and 
an  open  “life  line”  on  the  edge  of  the  rim.  Bowl  G  rested  on 
another  bowl  of  gray  ware  (H-3673;  pi.  III).  This  bowl  is 
1 1.3  cm.  in  diameter  and  4.8  cm.  deep.  The  design,  which  is 
in  black,  covers  the  interior  surface,  and  there  is  an  open  “life 
line”  on  the  edge. 

South  of  jar  F,  and  resting  against  it,  was  a  pitcher  of  gray 
ware  (I-H-3676;  pi.  III).  This  pitcher  averages  11.3  cm.  in 
diameter  at  the  lower  part  and  7.6  cm.  at  the  rim.  It  is  of  the 
usual  form,  the  design  being  in  the  form  of  a  meander.  The 
rim  is  slightly  flaring  and  the  handle  is  devoid  of  decoration. 

An  isolated  jaw  was  found  four  inches  from  the  eastern 
wall,  four  feet  from  the  northern  wall,  and  4  ft.  10  in.  from 
the  ceiling-beams.  Northeast  of  this  jaw,  a  jar-cover  was  dis¬ 
covered  (J-H-3677)  :  this  is  of  sandstone,  of  the  usual  flat, 
circular  form. 

A  pitcher  of  gray  ware  (K-H-3619)  was  lying  on  its  side 
when  disclosed.  This  pitcher  is  of  the  type  having  a  long  cylin¬ 
drical  top.  The  decoration,  as  shown  in  plate  ill,  is  of  the  inter¬ 
locking  fret  pattern.  The  handle  is  decorated,  and  the  edge 
of  the  rim  is  ornamented  with  a  series  of  dots.  The  specimen 
is  18  cm.  in  depth,  and  averages  8.3  cm.  in  diameter  at  the  rim. 

A  gray-ware  bowl  (L-H-3618)  which,  when  brought  to 
light,  was  lying  in  a  natural  position,  averages  12  cm.  in  diam¬ 
eter  at  the  rim, ’and  is  6  cm.  in  depth.  The  decoration  is  confined 
to  the  inner  rim,  as  shown  in  plate  III. 


214 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


A  pitcher  (M-H-3678)  was  found  lying  in  a  slanting  posi¬ 
tion,  the  mouth  being  uppermost.  As  shown  in  plate  III,  this 
pitcher  is  of  gray  ware,  of  the  type  having  a  finely  polished  sur¬ 
face,  the  general  appearance  being  that  of  a  very  much  finer 
grade  of  earthenware  than  is  usually  found  in  this  region.  The 
design  is  in  two  bands,  and  the  handle  and  rim  are  decorated. 
The  greatest  diameter  is  14.3  cm.,  the  diameter  of  the  mouth 
averaging  7  cm.,  and  the  depth  16.4  cm. 

Just  west  of  pitcher  M,  a  lower  jaw  was  found;  this  was 
situated  1  ft.  2  in.  from  the  southern  wall,  1  ft.  4  in.  from  the 
eastern  wall,  and  four  feet  from  the  ceiling-beams.  Another  jaw 
was  lying  against  a  post  in  the  southeastern  corner,  nine  inches 
from  the  eastern  wall,  four  inches  from  the  southern  wall,  and 
five  feet  from  the  ceiling-beams. 

Skull  No.  6  was  lying,  with  the  face  upward,  at  a  point  four 
feet  eight  inches  below  the  ceiling-beams.  The  greater  part  of 
the  skeleton  had  been  scattered,  but  most  of  the  cervical  vertebrae 
were  in  place. 

North  of  skull  No.  6  a  number  of  pieces  of  pottery  were 
uncovered,  the  first  a  bowl  (N-H-3613). 

Southeast  of  bowl  N,  another  bowl  was  found  (O-H-3612; 
pi.  Ill), resting  in  an  upright  position,  as  was  the  bowl  just  de¬ 
scribed.  Bowl  O  is  of  gray  ware,  with  black  decorations  on  the 
interior  surface  and  a  band  of  black  on  the  edge  of  the  rim.  The 
design  is  formed  by  a  band  on  the  inner  rim;  the  bottom  space 
contains  three  circles,  the  lines  forming  them  being  of  a  wavy 
character.  This  bowl  is  somewhat  irregular  in  shape,  averaging 
16  cm.  in  diameter  at  the  rim,  with  a  depth  of  6.3  cm. 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  215 


West  of  bowl  O,  a  gray-ware  pitcher  was  uncovered  (P-H- 
3614),  resting  on  its  side.  Plate  III  shows  this  pitcher  to  be  of 
very  unusual  shape;  the  bottom  part,  as  well  as  the  neck,  being 
ovoid  in  form:  the  lower  portion  is  contracted  on  both  sides 
at  the  central  part,  —  a  feature  giving  it  the  appearance  of  a  two- 
lob  ed  vessel.  The  handle  is  composed  of  four  strips  of  clay,  in 
imitation  of  the  crude  handles  of  baskets.  The  handles  of  most 
pitchers  of  this  type  have  their  under  surfaces  smoothed;  but  this 
specimen  shows  the  separate  strands  of  clay  on  the  under  side 
as  distinctly  as  on  the  upper.  The  decoration  of  the  vessel  is 
confined  to  two  bands  :  one  spanning  the  bowl,  and  the  other  a 
space  directly  below  the  rim.  The  handle  is  decorated  with 
four  wavy  lines,  and  there  is  a  line  of  black  on  the  edge  of  the 
rim.  The  greatest  breadth  of  the  bowl  is  19.5  cm.,  and  its  great¬ 
est  width  14.5  cm.  The  neck  at  the  opening  is  9  cm.  long  and 
6  cm.  wide;  the  depth  of  the  pitcher  is  20.5  cm.  A  great  many 
vessels  having  sides  compressed  through  carelessness  in  the  firing 
are  found  in  this  region;  but  from  the  uniform  contour  of  this 
pitcher,  and  its  general  appearance,  the  conclusion  is  inevitable 
that  it  embodies  the  conception  of  its  maker. 

A  bowl  of  gray  ware  was  resting  against  and  partially  cov¬ 
ering  the  mouth  of  the  pitcher  P.  This  bowl  (Q-H-3610),  as 
shown  in  plate  III,  has  four  wavy  lines  forming  a  band  on  the 
inner  rim ;  there  are  a  band  of  black  on  the  edge  of  the  rim  and 
a  large  cross  on  the  bottom,  this  being  the  only  decoration  on  the 
exterior.  The  interior  has  a  peculiar  brown  finish,  which  is 
unusual;  whether  this  was  caused  by  grease,  or  by  some  slip 
dissimilar  to  that  usually  used,  cannot  be  stated.  This  specimen 
is  1 1  cm.  in  diameter  at  the  rim  and  4.7  cm.  deep. 


2l6 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


To  the  northeast  of  bowl  Q,  and  resting  against  it,  was  a 
gray-ware  pitcher  (R-H-3615) .  This  pitcher,  as  shown  in  plate 
III,  has  a  dull  brownish-gray  finish.  The  decorations  forming 
bands  around  the  lower  part,  and  below  the  rim,  were  evidently 
black  when  they  were  applied;  but  they  have  changed  from 
some  cause,  and  at  the  present  time  have  a  decidedly  reddish 
hue.  The  handle  is  of  the  rod  type,  being  formed  of  three  strips 
of  clay:  the  under  surface  has  been  smoothed  until  the  division- 
lines  have  been  obliterated.  Each  of  the  three  strips  forming 
the  handle  is  marked  by  a  line  that  extends  from  the  rim  to  the 
point  where  it  joins  the  vessel.  The  greatest  diameter  of  this 
vessel  is  at  the  bowl-part,  which  measures  15  cm. ;  at  the  rim,  the 
edge  of  which  is  decorated,  it  averages  8  cm.  in  diameter,  the 
depth  being  16  cm. 

Northeast  of  pitcher  R,  and  resting  against  it,  was  a  small 
pitcher  of  gray  ware  (S-H-3616),  which  is  shown  in  plate  III. 
It  has  two  bands  composed  of  interlocking  scrolls,  —  one  about 
the  upper  part  of  the  bowl  and  the  other  below  the  rim.  The 
handle  is  solid  and  undecorated;  but  there  is  a  line  on  the  edge 
of  the  rim.  The  pitcher  is  1 1  cm.  in  diameter  at  its  widest  part, 
which  is  the  upper  portion  of  the  bowl.  The  cylindrical  top 
is  contracted  toward  the  rim,  where  it  averages  only  7  cm.  in 
diameter;  the  depth  is  11.6  cm. 

West  of  pitcher  P,  and  resting  against  it,  were  the  frag¬ 
ments  of  a  bowl  of  gray  ware  (T-H-3631).  The  interior  is 
decorated  with  an  elaborate  design;  but  the  entire  inner  surface 
has  been  discolored  in  some  way,  presumably  from  use  as  a  food- 
vessel.  This  specimen  is  24  cm.  in  diameter  at  the  rim  and 
1 1  cm.  deep. 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  217 


North  of  bowl  T,  and  resting  thereon  in  such  a  way  that  the 
pressure  of  the  earth  above  had  crushed  it,  was  another  gray- 
ware  bowl  (U-H-3630).  The  decorations  on  this  vessel  are 
confined  to  the  interior  surface,  with  the  exception  of  an  irregu¬ 
lar  black  band  on  the  bottom.  The  decoration  of  the  interior 
surface  of  this  bowl  may  be  seen  in  plate  III,  likewise  the  open 
“life  line”  on  the  rim.  The  peculiar  discoloration  on  the 
interior  surfaces  of  these  vessels  is  quite  marked,  the  present 
specimen  having  a  decided  buff-color.  The  bowl  averages  20 
cm.  in  diameter,  and  is  7.5  cm.  in  depth. 

South  of  bowl  T,  its  mouth  resting  against  this  bowl,  was 
a  small  pitcher  (V-H-3611). 

Another  pitcher  of  gray  ware  (W-H-3620)  was  resting  on 
the  rim  of  bowl  T.  This  pitcher,  as  shown  in  plate  III,  is  of 
the  tall  cylindrical-top  form,  having  decorations  in  black.  The 
handle  is  a  solid  piece,  decorated;  and  the  rim  is  ornamented 
with  a  series  of  dots.  The  upper  part  of  the  bowl  of  this  vessel 
is  1 1.7  cm.  in  diameter,  the  diameter  at  the  mouth  being  8.3  cm. 
and  the  depth  17.6  cm. 

At  a  distance  of  1  ft.  10  in.  from  the  southern  wall,  three 
feet  from  the  eastern  wall,  and  4  ft.  1  in.  from  the  ceiling- 
beams,  an  object  was  found,  which,  owing  to  the  amount  of 
debris  attached  to  its  surface,  appeared  to  be  an  ordinary  cotton¬ 
wood-limb;  further  investigation  revealed  three  other  pieces, 
which  show  it  to  be  a  flageolet  of  extraordinary  size.  This  mu¬ 
sical  instrument  (pi.  I,  1)  was  in  four  pieces  when  found.  From 
the  space  between  the  note-openings,  it  would  seem  that  a  small 
portion  is  missing.  In  its  present  condition  the  flageolet  meas¬ 
ures  1  m.  8  cm.  in  length;  it  averages  4.2  cm.  in  diam- 


2l8 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


eter,  decreasing  in  size  at  the  mouth-end,  and  increasing  grad¬ 
ually  toward  the  opposite  end.  The  hole  drilled  through  the 
stem  averages  in  diameter  1.8  cm.  at  the  mouth-end,  and  2.5  cm. 
at  the  point  directly  below  the  second  hole  from  the  bell-end,  and 
is  nearly  3.5  cm.  in  diameter  at  the  end  just  mentioned.  The 
flageolet  is  made  from  a  cottonwood-root.  The  mouthpiece  has 
been  destroyed  by  rats,  but  it  was  evidently  formed  like  the  end 
of  the  small  flutes  found  in  this  room.  The  finger-holes,  avera¬ 
ging  1  cm.  in  diameter,  are  carefully  drilled.  The  only  absolute 
interval  that  could  be  measured  is  that  between  the  first  and 
second  holes  from  the  bell-end,  the  distance  being  10  cm.  There 
are  no  decorations  on  the  surface,  nor  has  the  surface  been  care¬ 
fully  smoothed.  Small  projections  formed  by  knots  are  in  evi¬ 
dence,  in  some  places  rising  to  a  height  of  more  than  two  milli¬ 
meters  above  the  general  surface. 

The  next  object  uncovered  was  a  bowl  (X-H-3628;  pi.  Ill) 
of  gray  ware.  The  decoration  is  in  the  form  of  a  band  on 
the  inner  rim,  and  there  is  an  open  “life  line”  on  the  edge  of  the 
rim.  The  interior  surface  of  this  bowl  is  discolored  to  so  great 
an  extent  that  the  design  is  almost  obliterated.  The  specimen 
is  14.3  cm.  in  diameter  and  6.2  cm.  in  depth. 

Resting  inside  of  bowl  X  was  an  incurved  bowl  (Y-H- 
3617).  This  specimen  possesses  unusual  features.  It  is  of  gray 
ware,  and  the  decoration  is  confined  to  the  inner  surface,  with 
the  exception  of  a  band  which  spans  the  outer  rim.  A  handle 
is  attached  near  the  rim.  The  rim  is  exceptional,  as  the  design 
on  the  inner  curved  portion  extends  within  five  millimeters  of 
the  edge.  The  reason  for  this  feature  is  hard  to  understand; 
for  in  looking  from  above  the  entire  upper  portion  of  the  design 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  219 


is  concealed  by  the  overhang  of  the  rim,  the  general  effect  being 
shown  in  plate  III.  The  greatest  diameter  of  this  vessel  is  10. 1 
cm.,  the  opening  being  7  cm.  in  diameter,  and  the  depth  of  the 
bowl  5  cm. 

Southwest  of  the  two  bowls  just  described,  another  bowl  of 
gray  ware  was  found  (Z-H-3629).  This  contained  the  remains 
of  cord  and  of  what  was  once  evidently  food.  The  specimen  is 
of  gray  ware,  decorated  on  the  interior.  Its  diameter  at  the  rim 
averages  14.5  cm.,  and  its  depth  is  6.5  cm. 

Resting  inside  of  bowl  Z  was  another  bowl  of  gray  ware 
(Ai-H-3627).  This  vessel  also  contains  what  appears  to  be 
the  remains  of  food.  The  specimen  is  decorated  on  the  inner 
rim,  as  shown  in  plate  III.  It  is  11.5  cm.  in  diameter  at  the  rim 
and  6  cm.  deep. 

After  removing  the  objects  above  described,  skull  No.  7 
was  found.  It  was  lying  with  the  frontal  bone  resting  against 
the  post  in  the  southwestern  corner  of  the  room,  at  a  depth  of 
4  ft.  7  in.  from  the  ceiling-beams.  The  lower  jaw  was  not 
found  with  this  skull. 

Skull  No.  8  was  resting  in  an  unnatural  position,  the  teeth 
being  uppermost.  It  was  4  ft.  6  in.  from  the  ceiling-beams. 
As  in  the  case  of  skull  No.  7,  the  lower  jaw  was  not  with  the  skull. 

A  lower  jaw  was  discovered  in  the  southwestern  corner, 
seven  inches  from  the  southern  wall  and  three  inches  from  the 
western  wall,  and  at  a  distance  of  5  ft  5  in.  below  the  ceiling- 
beams. 

Another  skull  (No.  9)  was  resting  face  downward,  four  feet 
below  the  ceiling-beams. 


220 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  next  object  of  pottery  unearthed  was  a  gray-ware  bowl 
(Bi-H-3624).  As  maybe  seen  in  plate  III,  there  is  a  decoration 
in  black  on  the  inner  rim,  also  a  line  of  black  on  the  edge  of  the 
rim.  The  rim-diameter  is  15  cm.,  and  the  depth  5.7  cm. 

Another  lower  jaw  was  found  4  ft.  4  in.  from  the  southern 
wall,  1  ft.  3  in.  from  the  western  wall,  and  five  feet  from  the 
ceiling-beams. 

East  of  the  jaw  just  mentioned,  a  fragment  of  a  corrugated 
jar  (Ci-H-3323)  was  found. 

The  next  vessel  (Di-H-3622)  discovered  was  a  pitcher  of 
gray  ware.  The  entire  exterior  surface,  with  the  exception  of 
a  small  area  at  the  base,  is  decorated,  as  may  be  seen  in  plate  III. 
Its  greatest  diameter,  which  is  at  the  upper  part  of  the  bowl,  is 
1 2. 1  cm.;  the  diameter  at  the  rim  averaging  7.3  cm.,  while  the 
depth  is  13.3  cm. 

The  next  skull  uncovered  (No.  10)  was  lying  on  the  occiput, 
but  it  evidently  had  been  crushed,  as  the  bones  of  the  head  were 
broken.  Unlike  most  of  the  skulls,  the  jaws  had  held  together 
and  were  in  their  natural  positions:  from  them  (the  highest  part 
of  the  skull)  to  the  ceiling-beams,  the  distance  was  4  ft.  11  in. 

South  of  skull  No.  10,  a  leg  and  foot  were  found.  They 
were  in  a  desiccated  condition,  and  fragments  of  cloth  were 
wrapped  about  them.  These  specimens  were  lying  on  the  same 
level  as  skull  No.  10,  and  probably  belonged  to  the  same  body. 

Skull  No.  1 1  was  found  resting  on  the  occipital  and  parie¬ 
tal  bones,  with  the  teeth  uppermost.  It  was  3  ft.  1  in.  from  the 
ceiling-beams. 

Skull  No.  12,  when  discovered,  was  in  an  upright  position, 
resting  on  the  occiput.  From  the  frontal  bone  to  the  ceiling- 


MORTUARY  POTTERY 


ISKS 

Cm  OC  Cm  Cm 
0>  O'  On  On 
CM  t\J  h-4  >— 4 
On  00  00  O 


M  HH  M-l  i-H 
M-»  h-M  >-0  l-H 

Cm  Cm  Cm  Cm 
On  On  0\  ON 
Cm  On  4 

O  On 


i  I  I  I 

Cm  Cm  Cm  Cm 

On  On  On  On 

m  4-  ^1  t  'O 
t\)  Oi  C/i  VJ 


KSE 

I  I  I 

Cm  Cm  Cm 
On  On  On 

h  t\j  V| 

Cn  Cm  On 


Cm  Cm  Cm 
On  On  O' 

— *  ►-*  t\j 

4^  vO  O 


Pepper — Puebro  Bonito 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  221 


beams  was  a  distance  of  4  ft.  10  in.  The  body  extended  toward 
the  west,  and  many  of  the  bones  were  in  place.  The  lower  jaw, 
however,  was  not  with  the  cranium. 

A  cylindrical  jar  of  gray  ware  (Ei-H-3621)  was  found 
near  the  eastern  wall.  This  jar,  as  shown  in  plate  III,  is  of  the 
undecorated  variety,  with  three  handles  placed  in  a  horizontal 
position,  and  equidistant.  The  specimen  is  12.5  cm.  in  diameter 
at  the  base,  and  tapers  toward  the  rim,  the  diameter  at  that  point 
averaging  8.8  cm.;  its  depth  is  23.8  cm. 

The  next  objects  found  were  two  sandstone  jar-covers.  These 
were  in  the  northwestern  corner,  one  foot  from  the  northern 
wall,  and  resting  against  the  eastern  wall;  they  lay  5  ft.  2  in. 
below  the  ceiling-beams.  Associated  with  them  were  shell  and 
turquoise  beads,  which  seemingly  had  been  grouped  around  the 
posts  in  the  corner. 

On  the  removal  of  the  above-mentioned  specimens  and  the 
debris  about  them,  a  floor  appeared.  This  was  made  of  boards 
which  averaged  a  foot  in  width  and  from  three-quarters  of  an 
inch  to  an  inch  in  thickness.  These  boards  were  laid  side  by 
side,  in  an  east  and  west  direction ;  and  the  floor  thus  formed  no 
doubt  presented  a  flat  surface  when  it  was  new.  When  found, 
the  boards  were  somewhat  decayed,  and  were  warped,  from  the 
effect  of  the  water,  to  so  great  an  extent  that  the  surface  was 
very  uneven.  The  boards  curved  upward  from  the  center,  ow¬ 
ing  to  the  decaying  of  the  bodies  in  the  sand  below  them  and  to 
the  pressure  of  the  material  above.  From  the  appearance  of  the 
boards,  it  was  evident  that  they  had  been  made  for  the  purpose 
indicated.  In  the  eastern  end  of  one  of  them,  a  hole  about  four 


222 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


inches  in  diameter  had  been  cut,  for  what  reason,  it  is  impossible 
to  say. 

Under  the  floor,  at  a  distance  of  3  ft.  3  in.  below  the  ceiling- 
beams,  skull  No.  13  was  found  resting  on  its  right  side.  The 
body  extended  toward  the  southwest,  and  the  bones  were  in  place. 

Scattered  about  the  lower  part  of  the  leg-bones  were  2997 
disk-shaped  beads  of  turquoise.  Over  and  about  the  right  ankle 
were  698  beads  of  the  same  form  and  material.  Around  the 
upper  part  of  the  left  arm  were  grouped  1628  similar  beads,  and 
with  these  were  a  small  turquoise  set  and  a  large  turquoise  pen¬ 
dant.  Scattered  about  the  skeleton  were  567  beads  of  the  kind 
described,  and  one  having  the  edge  rounded.  There  were  also 
three  turquoise  sets  made  for  use  in  inlay  work.  With  these 
were  nine  turquoise  pendants,  ranging  in  length  from  8  mm.  to 
4.5  cm.  One  of  these  is  interesting  in  that  it  has  been  drilled 
from  each  side  to  the  extent  that  the  thin  wall  that  remains  is 
translucent.  Besides  the  objects  mentioned  there  were  found  a 
piece  of  turquoise  matrix,  three  of  the  disk-shaped  shell  beads, 
and  a  small  piece  of  shell. 

Only  two  pottery  vessels  were  found  beneath  the  wooden 
floor,  both  of  them  being  bowls. 

Bowl  Hi-H-3635  on  discovery  was  resting  against  the 
northern  wall.  This  bowl  is  of  gray  ware,  as  shown  in  plate  III. 
It  averages  16.3  cm.  in  diameter  at  the  rim,  and  is  6.3  cm.  deep. 
It  is  decorated  on  the  inner  rim,  and  there  is  an  open  “life  line” 
on  the  edge  of  the  rim,  the  decoration  being  in  black. 

Another  bowl  (Ii-H-3634)  was  unearthed  near  bowl  Hi. 
This  bowl  is  of  black  ware,  undecorated.  It  averages  1 1.7  cm. 
in  diameter  at  the  rim,  and  is  4.9  cm.  deep. 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  223 


The  next  skeleton  found  (No.  14)  was  in  situ.  The  head 
was  in  an  upright  position,  and  was  7  ft.  9  in.  from  the  ceiling- 
beams.  The  face  was  turned  toward  the  southeast,  and  the  lower 
jaw  was  in  place.  The  upper  jaw  was  broken,  and  had  fallen 
apart.  The  right  side  of  the  cranium  was  crushed,  and  there 
were  two  holes  and  a  gash  in  the  frontal  bone.  The  skeleton, 
which  was  intact,  was  extended  about  north  and  south.  The 
arms  extended  along  the  sides  of  the  body.  The  legs  were  spread 
and  bent  upward,  the  feet  being  close  together,  and  resting 
against  the  southern  wall. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  objects  found  with  this  body 
were  in  place,  they  will  be  considered  before  a  general  resume 
of  the  specimens  found  with  the  other  bodies  is  given.  The 
skeleton  itself  was  resting  on  a  layer  of  wood-ashes  which  had 
been  spread  on  the  leveled  floor  of  yellow  sand.  From  the  gen¬ 
eral  care  bestowed  on  this  body,  and  from  the  character  and 
quantity  of  the  objects  found  with  it,  the  deceased  must  have 
been  a  person  of  rank. 

Apparently,  an  ornament  made  of  turquoise  beads  once 
either  hung  from  the  neck,  or  was  fastened  to  the  clothing  at  the 
breast,  for  here  1980  such  beads  were  found.  These  are  of  the 
disk-shaped  type,  and  range  from  very  small  beads  to  large  ones 
having  a  diameter  of  8  mm.  With  them  were  a  turquoise  pen¬ 
dant  2.3  cm.  in  length  and  1.6  cm.  in  breadth,  and  eight  small 
turquoise  pendants.  These  ornaments  were  scattered  through 
the  sand  in  such  a  way  that  the  form  of  the  object  of  which  they 
were  once  parts  could  not  be  determined. 

Over  the  abdomen  another  mass  of  beads  and  pendants  was 
found.  In  this  mass  were  2642  small  turquoise  beads  similar 


224 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


to  those  found  on  the  breast,  also  1 68  small  turquoise  pendants, 
and  four  turquoise  pendants  of  unusual  form,  —  two  of  the  last- 
named  made  in  crude  imitation  of  a  rabbit,  a  third  in  the  form 
of  a  shoe,  while  the  fourth  is  interesting,  owing  to  the  fact  that 
it  represents  the  object  in  the  course  of  construction.  With  these 
specimens  were  three  turquoise  sets  used  for  inlay  work,  and  five 
jet  inlays. 

From  the  position  of  the  beads  found  about  the  right  wrist 
of  the  skeleton,  it  would  seem  that  these  once  formed  a  wristlet. 
There  were  6 1 6  of  the  disk-shaped  turquoise  beads,  147  small 
turquoise  pendants,  one  small  flat  turquoise  bead  having  the  edges 
rounded,  and  one  turquoise  pendant  having  the  usual  perfora¬ 
tion  at  one  end,  and  another  hole  drilled  for  a  distance  at  the 
opposite  end.  There  were  also  four  turquoise  sets,  one  shell 
bead,  and  two  small  stone  beads.  Special  mention  should  be 
made  of  two  carved  pieces  of  turquoise.  These  are  approxi¬ 
mately  the  same  length  (1.2  cm.),  one  representing  a  bird,  and 
the  other  having  a  flat  surface  with  incised  lines.  At  one  end 
of  the  latter  specimen,  which  may  have  been  meant  to  represent 
an  insect,  is  an  indication  of  a  head.  Both  of  these  objects  are 
drilled  on  the  under  side  for  suspension. 

Surrounding  the  left  wrist  were  2384  disk-shaped  beads,  194 
pendants,  and  four  cylindrical  beads  (all  of  turquoise),  one  of 
which  is  1  cm.  in  length  and  6  mm.  in  diameter,  the  other  three 
being  smaller.  There  were  five  pendants  of  unusual  form,  — 
two  in  the  shape  of  birds,  one  in  the  shape  of  a  human  foot,  one 
having  a  bifurcated  base,  and  the  fifth  of  irregular  shape.  There 
was  also  a  pendant  which  had  been  drilled  and  broken,  with  a 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  225 


second  hole  drilled  in  the  opposite  side.  With  the  turquoise 
beads  were  five  shell  pendants  of  irregular  form. 

Over  and  around  the  ankle  were  322  disk-shaped  turquoise 
beads,  ranging  from  large  to  very  small,  as  was  the  case  with 
each  group  of  beads  found  with  this  skeleton.  With  the  beads 
were  five  small  turquoise  pendants,  also  two  cylindrical  turquoise 
beads. 

The  left  ankle  was  surrounded  with  a  mass  of  disk-shaped 
turquoise  beads,  numbering  432  in  all.  With  them  were  eight 
small  turquoise  pendants  and  two  of  the  disk-shaped  turquoise 
beads  having  the  edges  rounded,  eight  very  small  shell  and  stone 
beads,  and  a  fragment  of  a  cylindrical  bead  made  of  shell.  In 
addition  to  the  foregoing,  a  turquoise  set  or  inlay  was  found  in 
the  mass;  but  it  is  quite  probable  that  this  specimen  had  fallen 
from  an  upper  level,  as  it  would  be  impossible  to  use  such  an 
object  in  connection  with  the  turquoise  beads,  unless,  perchance, 
it  may  have  formed  part  of  the  contents  of  a  medicine-bag  which 
was  buried  with  the  body. 

The  presence  of  so  many  ornaments  made  of  turquoise  would 
seem  in  itself  sufficient  evidence  for  concluding  that  this 
person  had  been  of  high  rank.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  cords, 
or  perhaps  sinew,  on  which  the  turquoise  pieces  were  strung, 
had  decayed,  thereby  removing  all  traces  of  the  form  and  char¬ 
acter  of  the  ornaments  attached  respectively  to  neck,  breast, 
waist,  wrists,  and  ankles. 

The  ornaments  already  mentioned  contribute  interesting 
material  for  study  of  the  decoration  used  by  the  old  people ;  but  a 
cache  of  objects  discovered  just  west  of  skeleton  No.  14  revealed 


226 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


a  number  of  ornaments  of  new  forms,  and  furnished  a  mass  of 
shell  and  turquoise  beads. 

Four  inches  from  the  right  knee,  on  the  western  side  of  the 
body,  a  shell  trumpet  (Ki-H-3653)  was  found.  This  trumpet 
(plate  IV)  is  made  from  the  shell  of  a  Strombus  galeatos 
Swainson.  The  lip  of  the  shell  is  cut  away  in  the  manner 
noted  in  the  case  of  a  shell  from  room  13  of  this  pueblo.  Two 
holes  are  drilled  near  the  edge  of  the  lip,  at  the  central  part, 
probably  for  the  attachment  of  a  carrying-cord;  and  a  third  hole 
is  drilled  near  one  of  these.  A  little  farther  from  the  edge  is  a 
fourth  hole  more  than  two  centimeters  from  the  hole  nearest  the 
mouth-piece.  The  shell  evidently  cracked  while  in  use;  for,  on 
each  side  of  a  break  near  the  whorl-end,  holes  are  drilled,  evi¬ 
dently  for  the  purpose  of  mending  or  strengthening  the  shell  at 
that  part.  The  mouthpiece  of  the  trumpet  is  ground,  to  some 
extent;  but  there  is  no  evidence  of  the  specimen  having  had  a 
mouthpiece  of  clay,  and  none  was  found  with  it,  although  two 
trumpet  mouthpieces  were  found  in  the  debris  in  the  room.  This 
trumpet  was,  when  found,  7  ft.  4  in.  from  the  ceiling-beams.  It 
rested  in  a  haliotis  shell  (Li-H-3651).  This  shell  shows  no  signs 
of  having  been  worked.  It  rested  on  a  shell  of  the  same  kind  (M 
1-H-3650).  North  of  these  shells,  and  lying  against  Mi,  was  a 
third  haliotis  (Oi-H-3654) .  Lying  on  edge  in  shell  Oi,  were 
twenty-six  perfect  shell  bracelets  and  fifteen  fragments.  These 
bracelets,  averaging  8.3  cm.  in  diameter,  are  probably  made  from 
pectunculus  shells.  Another  haliotis  shell  (Qi-H-3632)  was 
found  a  little  above,  and  slightly  to  the  east,  of  the  deposit  of 
shells  just  mentioned.  Under  this  shell  was  brought  to  light  a 
peculiar  deposit  of  turquoise  sets.  At  first,  in  clearing  away 


Pepper  Pueblo  Bonito 


Plate  IV 


■0*> 

■M0 


Cylindrical  basket  covered  with  mosaic  of  turquoise.  2.  Turquoise  pendant  and 
set,  showing  inlays  of  the  same  material.  3.  Turquoise  frogs  and  tadpoles 

OBJECTS  FROM  BURIAL  ROOM,  PUEBLO  BONITO 


Shell  trumpet  found  with  skeleton  14 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  227 


the  surrounding  sand,  the  small  turquoise  pieces  seemed  to  be 
in  place:  subsequently,  as  the  sand  was  brushed  from  about 
them,  many  fell  from  their  original  position.  It  required  sev¬ 
eral  hours  to  determine  the  shape  of  the  object  covered  by  these 
turquoise  pieces;  but,  owing  to  the  fact  that  fragments  of  the 
material  on  which  the  turquoise  had  been  fastened  still  remained, 
it  was  possible  to  ascertain  that  the  object  had  been  a  cylindrical 
basket,  three  inches  in  diameter  and  six  inches  in  length.  The 
basket-work  had  decayed;  but  the  fragments  showed  conclusively 
that  it  had  been  made  of  very  slender  splints  over  which  a  layer 
of  some  material,  probably  pinon-gum,  had  been  placed,  this  be¬ 
ing  the  medium  that  held  the  turquoise  pieces  in  position.  A 
restoration  of  this  specimen  is  shown  in  plate  IV,  1,  the  individual 
pieces  being  represented  as  adjusted  in  the  manner  noted  by  the 
writer  in  uncovering  the  specimen.  The  cylinder  was  practically 
filled  with  sand,  and  was  also  covered  by  the  same  material, 
which  had  drifted  over  it.  Thus,  though  the  basket-work  had 
decayed,  the  several  inlays  were  held  in  place  by  an  equaliza¬ 
tion  of  pressure.  This  condition  made  it  possible  to  determine, 
not  only  the  general  form  of  the  object,  but  also  the  irregular 
arrangement  of  the  various  pieces  of  turquoise.  In  his  legends 
concerning  the  Navaho  Indians,  Dr  Washington  Matthews 
shows  that  several  references  to  “turquoise  jewel-baskets”  are 
made  by  them.  But  whether  their  traditional  knowledge  of  the 
subject  is  of  mythical  origin,  or  whether  their  ancestors  saw  such 
baskets  in  use  by  the  Pueblo  Indians  in  the  early  days,  cannot 
now  be  stated  with  certainty;  but  the  Navaho  legend  is  none  the 
less  interesting  on  this  account. 


228 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


There  were  1214  pieces  of  turquoise  forming  the  mosaic 
which  covered  the  cylinder,  and  so  closely  were  these  placed, 
that  hardly  an  opening  was  left  in  the  whole  surface.  Partially 
filling  the  cylinder,  and  lying  directly  below  its  mouth,  was  a 
mass  of  turquoise  and  shell  beads  and  pendants.  In  this  deposit 
there  were  2150  disk-shaped  turquoise  beads.  With  these  were 
152  small  turquoise  pendants,  of  various  forms,  and  twenty-two 
large  pendants  of  the  same  material,  the  largest  of  which  meas¬ 
ured  3.6  cm.  in  length,  2.7  cm.  in  width,  and  3  mm.  in  thickness. 
One  of  these  (H-3769)  is  of  irregular  form,  having  the  edges  on 
all  sides  notched.  Another  (H-9250)  is  carved  so  as  to  give  the 
appearance  of  a  bird  with  a  crest.  A  third  pendant  is  crescent¬ 
shaped;  this  was  made  from  a  fragment  of  a  disk-shaped  bead. 
Still  another  (H-3852)  is  in  the  form  of  a  bird,  the  head  and 
bill  being  outlined  by  a  deep  incision;  there  is  also  an  incised 
line  about  the  neck. 

Associated  with  the  turquoise  beads  and  pendants  were 
3317  shell  beads  and  small  pendants.  Among  these  were  a  few 
beads  made  from  olivella  shells,  but  most  of  them  were  disk¬ 
shaped.  There  were  also  seventy  shell  beads  of  cylindrical  form, 
and  eight  specimens  of  the  same  kind  having  holes  drilled  in  the 
sides,  in  which  turquoise  sets  no  doubt  had  been  inlaid.  Still 
other  objects  unearthed  were  sixty-eight  large  shell  pendants  of 
irregular  shape,  most  of  them  of  the  flat  form;  nineteen  of  these 
have  holes  drilled  in  the  sides  for  the  reception  of  turquoise  in¬ 
lays.  This  fact  might  be  deemed  purely  conjectural,  were  it  not 
that  a  pendant  of  similar  form  still  retains  one  of  the  turquoise 
sets  in  place.  Two  of  the  shell  pendants  found  in  this  deposit  are 
in  the  shape  of  moccasins;  these  are  drilled  for  suspension. 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO 


229 


Fig.  3  —  Shell  bead  with  bird-bone 
inserted. 


Three  cylindrical  beads  of  shell,  averaging  three  centimeters  in 
length  and  eight  millimeters  in  diameter,  were  found.  These 
beads  are  similar  to  specimens  discovered  in  the  same  room,  each 
provided  with  a  bird-bone  passing 
through  the  central  opening  (fig.  3). 

The  deposit  contained  also  four  shell 
pendants  representing  bird-forms: 
one  of  these  specimens  still  retains  a 
piece  of  turquoise  inlaid  in  the  side.  A  fifth  specimen  is  of  the 
ordinary  form  of  pendants  drilled  for  the  reception  of  an  inlay, 
and  still  retains  a  piece  of  turquoise  in  a  groove  cut  just  below 
the  drilled  portion. 

In  the  center  of  the  mass  of  shell  and 
turquoise  ornaments,  below  the  turquoise 
mosaic  cylinder,  an  object  having  an  animal 
form  was  found.  This  figure  (Ri-H- 
3657)  is  made  of  a  soft  but  very  compact 
stone.  The  greater  part  is  of  a  light  pink 
color ;  but  there  is  an  area  of  chalky  white  on 
the  under  side,  extending  through  to  the  tail. 

This  latter  part  is  so  much  disintegrated  that 
the  material  rubs  off  at  the  slightest  touch. 

The  object  in  its  entirety  is  8.7  cm.  in  length, 
and  3.3  cm.  in  width  at  the  widest  part,  that 
is,  across  the  shoulders.  It  is  1.6  cm.  in 
thickness  at  the  shoulder,  tapering  from  this 
point  to  the  nose,  also  to  the  wedge-shaped 

tail.  The  general  form  of  the  object  is  fig.  4— incrusted  stone 
shown  in  figure  4.  1  he  body  is  marked  off  with  skeleton  14. 


230 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


from  the  head  by  a  deep  groove  on  each  side.  The  head  is 
carefully  carved.  One  feature  is  a  shovel-like  projection,  evi¬ 
dently  made  to  represent  a  flat  nose.  There  are  pits  forming 
eyes,  which  evidently  were  once  inlaid  with  pieces  of  turquoise. 
A  band  of  the  same  material  passes  across  the  neck.  This  object 
was  obviously  made  to  be  used  as  a  pendant.  To  prevent  the 
cord  from  wearing  away  the  very  soft  material,  the  makers  in¬ 
serted  a  bird-bone  in  a  hole  drilled  just  above  the  neck;  the  open¬ 
ing  on  each  side  was  countersunk,  and  the  space  was  filled  with 
gum.  Over  each  end  a  large  turquoise  bead  was  placed,  one 
being  in  position  when  the  object  was  found.  These  completely 
covered  the  ends  of  the  bone,  which  otherwise  would  have  de¬ 
tracted  from  the  finish  of  the  figure.  Whether  this  object  was 
made  to  represent  a  real  or  a  mythical  animal  is  not  determined. 

Near  skeleton  No.  14,  but  not  associated  with  the  deposit 
just  described,  were  the  remains  of  another  object  made  of  tur¬ 
quoise  and  shell  mosaic  inserted  on  basket-work  (H-12758). 
Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  basket-work  had  been  woven  over  a 
wooden  body,  or  at  least  over  a  form  of  fibrous  material  (as  a 
piece  of  cactus-stalk),  several  fragments  of  the  object  still  re¬ 
tained  their  form,  and  could  be  removed.  From  the  contour  of 
the  largest  fragment,  the  object  must  have  been  about  four  cen¬ 
timeters  in  diameter  and  more  than  six  centimeters  in  length, 
although  the  length  of  the  portion  found  is  but  three  centimeters. 
Unlike  the  mosaic  cylinder  above  described,  this  specimen  is 
made  of  turquoise  beads  and  ovoidal  thin  pieces  of  shell.  The 
beads  were  strung  on  a  cord  and  placed  on  edge  against  the  body 
of  the  cylinder,  in  parallel  rows  separated  by  two  rows  of  the  thin 
shell  pieces  which  overlapped  like  shingles.  The  number  of 


Pepper— Pueblo  Bonito 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  231 


beads  in  each  transverse  row  was  from  six  to  seven,  according  to 
the  thickness  of  the  pieces.  There  are  the  remains  of  three  of 
these  rows  of  beads,  and  of  three  of  the  alternating  rows  of  shell 
which  occupy  more  than  half  the  diameter  of  the  object.  With 
this  specimen  were  a  number  of  beads  very  much  larger  than  the 
ones  which  remained  in  place,  the  former  averaging  six  millime¬ 
ters  in  diameter,  while  the  latter  are  under  four  millimeters. 
Sections  of  the  larger  beads  were  found,  showing  that  they  had 
been  strung  in  the  same  manner  as  the  smaller  ones.  How  they 
were  applied  is,  of  course,  conjectural:  possibly  they  formed  a 
row  at  each  end  of  the  specimen.  There  were  discovered  more 
than  five  hundred  loose  beads  that  had  formed  a  part  of  this 
interesting  object,  which  was  used  no  doubt  ceremonially. 

With  skeleton  No.  14  were  unearthed  a  long  inlay  of  red 
stone,  several  fragments  of  shell  ornaments,  pieces  of  turquoise 
matrix,  and  small  turquoise  sets,  which  were  used  no  doubt  in 
ornamenting  the  shell  pendants. 

Nine  inches  east  of  the  skull,  in  a  standing  position  on  the 
same  level,  was  one  valve  of  a  bivalve  shell  (Pi-H-3649) 
Nothing  was  found  with  it. 

Measurements  Indicating  the  Positions  of  the  Skulls 

No.  1.  1  ft.  8  in.  from  W.  wall  and  8  in.  from  E.  wall. 

2.  3  ft.  3  in.  from  N.  wall  and  2  ft.  7  in.  from  E.  wall. 

3.  2  ft.  7  in.  from  N.  wall  and  3  ft.  from  E.  wall. 

4.  Against  E.  wall  and  2  ft.  2  in.  from  N.  wall. 

5.  4  ft.  from  N.  wall  and  1  ft.  3  in.  from  E.  wall. 

6.  Against  S.  wall  and  1  ft.  8  in.  from  E.  wall. 

7.  7  in.  from  S.  wall  and  4  ft.  11  in.  from  E.  wall. 

8.  I  ft.  9  in.  from  S.  wall  and  4  ft.  5  in.  from  E.  wall. 


232 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


9.  2  ft.  7  in.  from  S.  wall  and  I  ft.  6  in.  from  W.  wall. 

10.  Against  W.  wall  and  4  ft.  7  in.  from  S.  wall. 

11.  11  in.  from  N.  wall  and  2  ft.  from  W.  wall. 

12.  1  ft.  4  in.  from  N.  wall  and  I  ft.  from  E.  wall. 

13.  2  ft.  6  in.  from  S.  wall  and  I  ft.  4  in.  from  E.  wall. 

14.  1  ft.  5  in.  from  N.  wall  and  2  ft.  5  in.  from  W.  wall. 

The  lower  jaw  of  skull  No.  1  was  2  in.  below  it. 

The  lower  jaw  of  skull  No.  2  was  1  in.  E.  of  it. 

The  following  measurements  indicate  the  respective  posi¬ 
tions  of  the  specimens  described,  including  the  distance  of  each 
from  the  ceiling-beams. 

A.  Corrugated  bowl,  (H-3656)  2  ft.  7  in.  from  N.  wall,  1  ft.  5  in.  from  E. 

wall,  and  4  ft.  below  ceiling-beams. 

B.  Ceremonial  object  (H-3673),  2  ft.  5  in.  from  N.  wall,  11  in.  from  E. 

wall,  and  4  ft.  2  in.  from  ceiling-beams. 

C.  Pitcher  (H-3674),  2  ft.  8  in.  from  N.  wall,  6  in.  from  E.  wall,  and  5  ft. 

below  ceiling-beams. 

D.  Pitcher  (H-3623),  2  ft.  10  in.  from  N.  wall,  1  ft.  4  in.  from  E.  wall,  and 

4  ft.  9  in.  from  ceiling-beams. 

E.  Shell  bracelet  (H-3632),  against  E.  wall,  3  ft.  4  in.  from  N.  wall,  and  5 

ft.  below  ceiling-beams. 

F.  Cylindrical  jar  (H-3637),  3  ft.  9  in.  from  N.  wall,  9  in.  from  E.  wall, 

and  4  ft.  3  in.  from  ceiling-beams. 

G.  Bowl  (H-3645),  same  position  as  F. 

H.  Bowl  (H-3675),  same  position  as  F. 

I.  Pitcher  (H-3676),  same  position  as  F. 

J.  Jar-cover  (H-3677),  2  ft.  from  E.  wall,  3  ft.  10  in.  from  W.  wall,  and 

4  ft.  10  in.  from  ceiling-beams. 

K.  Pitcher  (H-3619),  1  ft.  5  in.  from  E.  wall,  3  ft.  6  in.  from  N.  wall,  and 

5  ft.  from  ceiling-beams. 

L.  Bowl  (H-36i8),  3  ft.  1  in.  from  N.  wall,  1  ft.  9  in.  from  E.  wall,  and  5 

ft.  1  in.  from  ceiling-beams. 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  233 


ML  Pitcher  (H-3678),  1  ft.  from  S.  wall,  1  ft.  4  in.  from  E.  wall,  and  4  ft. 
I  in.  from  ceiling-beams. 

N.  Bowl  (H-3613),  2  ft.  from  S.  wall,  1  ft.  10  in.  from  E.  wall,  and  5  ft. 

below  ceiling-beams. 

O.  Bowl  (H-3612),  1  ft.  9  in.  from  E.  wall  and  5  ft.  2  in.  from  ceiling- 

beams. 

P.  Pitcher  (H-3614),  2  ft.  4  in.  from  E.  wall,  I  ft.  from  S.  wall,  and  5  ft. 

below  ceiling-beams. 

Q.  Bowl  (H-3610),  1  ft.  7  in.  from  S.  wall,  2  ft.  8  in.  from  E.  wall,  and  4 

ft.  10  in.  from  ceiling-beams. 

R.  Pitcher  (H-3615),  1  ft.  8  in.  from  S.  wall,  2  ft.  6  in.  from  E.  wall,  and 

4  ft.  11  in.  from  ceiling-beams. 

S.  Pitcher  (H-3616),  2  ft.  2  in.  from  S.  wall,  2  ft.  5  in.  from  E.  wall,  and  5 

ft.  2  in.  from  ceiling-beams. 

T.  Bowl  (H-3631),  11  in.  from  S.  wall,  3  ft.  from  E.  wall,  and  5  ft.  2  in. 

from  ceiling-beams. 

U.  Bowl  (H-3630),  1  ft.  4  in.  from  S.  wall,  2  ft.  II  in.  from  E.  wall,  and 

5  ft.  2  in.  from  ceiling-beams. 

V.  Pitcher  (H-3611),  7  in.  from  S.  wall,  3  ft.  2  in.  from  E.  wall,  and  5  ft.  I 

in.  from  ceiling-beams. 

W.  Pitcher  (H-3620),  11  in.  from  S.  wall,  3  ft.  4  in.  from  E.  wall,  and  5  ft. 

4  in.  from  ceiling-beams. 

X.  Bowl  (H-3628),  1  ft.  6  in.  from  S.  wall,  3  ft.  10  in.  from  E.  wall,  and 

5  ft.  3  in.  below  ceiling-beams. 

Y.  Bowl  (H-3617),  found  in  bowl  X. 

Z.  Bowl  (H-3629),  1  ft.  2  in.  from  S.  wall,  4  ft.  4  in.  from  E.  wall,  and 

5  ft.  4  in.  from  ceiling-beams. 

A-i.  Bowl  (H-3627),  found  in  bowl  Z. 

B-i.  Bowl  (11-3624).  3  ft.  2  in.  from  S.  wall,  2  ft.  4  in.  from  E.  wall,  and 
5  ft.  3  in.  below  ceiling-beams. 

C-i.  Jar  fragment  (H-3625),  4  ft.  5  in.  from  S.  wall,  1  ft.  11  in.  from  W. 
wall,  and  5  ft.  1  in.  below  ceiling-beams. 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


234 

D-i.  Pitcher  (H-3622),  3  ft.  7  in.  from  S.  wall,  7  in.  from  W.  wall,  and  5 
ft.  below  ceiling-beams. 

E-i.  Jar  (H-3621),  against  N.  wall,  1  ft.  from  E.  wall,  and  4  ft.  2  in.  from 
ceiling-beams. 

H-i.  Bowl  (H-3635),  against  N.  wall,  2  ft.  from  E.  wall,  and  5  ft.  10  in. 
from  ceiling-beams. 

I-i.  Bowl  (H-3634) ,  1  in.  Southwest  of  bowl  H-i,  2  ft.  3  in.  from  E.  wall, 
and  6  ft.  2  in.  from  ceiling-beams. 

K-i.  Shell  trumpet  (H-3653),  with  skeleton  No.  14,  7  ft.  4  in.  from  ceiling- 
beams. 

L-i.  Haliotis  shell  (H-3651),  with  K-i. 

M-i.  Haliotis  shell  (H-3650),  with  K-i. 

O-i.  Haliotis  shell  (H-3654),  with  K-i. 

P-i.  Shell  bracelets  (H-3649),  with  K-i. 

Q-l.  Haliotis  shell  (H-3652),  with  K-i. 

R.  Animal  figure  (H-3657),  with  K-i. 

In  the  northeastern  corner  of  the  room,  grouped  about  the 
post  at  various  depths,  were  983  turquoise  objects,  as  follows: 
disk-shaped  beads,  926;  one  bead  of  the  same  type,  with  rounded 
edges;  three  cylindrical  beads;  and  forty-seven  small  and  six 
large  pendants.  The  most  interesting  of  the  larger  pendants 
(H-10417)  is  shown  in  plate  IV,  2.  This  was  found  near  the 
post  in  this  corner.  The  specimen  has  a  turquoise  front  and  a 
back  of  trachyte.  It  is  3.8  cm.  long,  2.3  cm.  wide  at  the  top, 
2.7  cm.  wide  at  the  bottom,  and  has  a  thickness  of  three  millime¬ 
ters.  It  is  drilled  at  the  narrow  end  for  suspension.  In  the  left 
side,  another  hole  (four  millimeters  in  diameter)  is  drilled,  the 
side  of  which  is  beveled.  In  this  hole  a  piece  of  turquoise, 
fashioned  with  edges  angulated  perfectly,  is  adjusted  with  all 
the  skill  of  a  modern  lapidary.  The  hole  is  drilled  through 
both  layers;  but  the  turquoise  inlay  extends  only  to  the  trachyte 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  235 


stratum.  Other  pieces  of  turjuoise  and  shell  treated  in  the  same 
manner  will  be  described,  but  none  of  them  approaches  in  work¬ 
manship  the  specimen  under  consideration. 

Four  pendants  are  matched  ear-drops.  Both  of  these  pairs 
of  pendants  have  turquoise  matrices,  while  the  larger  pair  has  a 
backing  of  trachyte.  The  smaller  pair  averages  2.8  cm.  in  length, 
and  2  cm.  in  width  at  the  widest  part;  the  larger,  3.3  cm.  in 
length,  and  2.2  cm.  in  width  at  the  lower  part.  Besides  the 
pieces  mentioned,  there  were  found  in  the  northeastern  corner 
twenty-six  pieces  of  turquoise,  many  of  which  had  been  worked, 
twenty-seven  turquoise  sets,  six  sets  made  of  stone  and  jet,  and  a 
small  shell  bead,  also  two  fragmentary  reed  arrows  provided 
with  wooden  foreshafts. 

Around  the  post  in  the  northwestern  corner  were  discovered 
turquoise  objects  as  follows:  fifty-one  disk-shaped  beads,  four 
large  pendants  and  a  small  one,  five  worked  pieces,  also  a  piece 
of  malachite,  and  a  disk  made  of  haliotis  shell.  This  disk  (H- 
3680),  which  is  concavo-convex,  is  five  centimeters  in  diameter. 
The  inner  edge  is  decorated  with  a  series  of  incised  lines.  A 
fragment  of  a  reed  arrow-shaft  was  also  found  in  this  corner. 

In  the  southeastern  corner  the  following  turquoise  objects 
were  brought  to  light:  586  of  the  disk-shaped  beads,  fifty-one 
pendants  of  small  or  of  medium  size,  six  large  pendants,  seven 
turquoise  sets,  and  sixty-five  pieces  of  worked  material  and 
matrix,  also  a  jet  inlay  and  a  thin  shell  pendant  made  of  haliotis 
shell.  To  the  foregoing  should  be  added  three  turquoise  beads, 
the  diameter  of  which  averages  1.5  mm.  The  holes  through 
these  beads  are  so  small  that  they  cannot  be  strung  on  an  ordinary 
pin. 


236  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


In  the  southwestern  corner  of  the  room,  forty-two  pieces  of 
malachite  were  found,  fragments  of  shell  bracelets,  and  a  bracelet 
made  of  bone  (H-9270),  but  no  turquoise  ornaments.  The  bone 
bracelet  is  5.6  cm.  broad  on  the  longer  axis.  The  bone  is  1.6  cm. 
in  width,  and  has  an  average  thickness  of  a  millimeter.  At  each 
end  is  a  drilled  hole,  through  which  a  cord  was  probably  passed 
to  fasten  the  bracelet  to  the  wrist.  Bracelets  of  this  kind  have 
been  found  in  a  fragmentary  condition  in  other  parts  of  the  ruin, 
but,  judging  from  their  scarcity,  it  would  seem  that  they  were 
not  in  general  use. 

In  referring  to  the  objects  found  when  this  room  was  en¬ 
tered,  mention  was  made  of  a  burial-mat,  the  ends  of  which  pro¬ 
truded  from  the  sand  in  the  southwestern  corner  (see  page 
197) .  When  removed,  this  mat  proved  to  be  made  of  thin  osiers 
fastened  together  at  three  points  by  means  of  a  two-strand  yucca 
cord  which  passed  through  holes  provided  for  the  purpose.  Why 
the  burial-mat  was  placed  in  this  position,  instead  of  being 
wrapped  about  one  of  the  bodies,  is  conjectural,  but  it  had  no 
doubt  ceremonial  significance. 

Among  the  interesting  objects  found  in  the  general  debris 
surrounding  the  skeletons  in  this  room  were  two  tadpoles,  five 
frogs,  and  seven  buttons;  all  of  these  objects  being  made  of 
turquoise.  The  tadpoles  (plate  IV,  3)  are  2.3  cm.  in  length,  and 
the  larger  is  eight  millimeters  in  width  at  the  head,  which  is 
flat  and  pointed.  The  eyes  are  represented  by  protuberances 
which  project  more  than  a  millimeter  from  the  general  surface. 
These  large  eyes  are  typical  of  the  frog  family  as  represented 
by  the  old  Pueblo  people.  Directly  back  of  the  head  is  a  con¬ 
striction  forming  the  neck;  and  back  still  farther  on  the  body, 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  237 


in  both  specimens,  is  a  kind  of  lump,  or  shoulder.  From  this 
point  the  body  tapers  gently  to  the  tail.  Both  specimens  are 
drilled  on  the  under  part  for  suspension,  the  drilling  following 
the  longer  axis  of  the  body. 

Four  of  the  frog-forms  in  turquoise  above  mentioned  are 
shown  in  plate  IV.  Two  of  these  have  the  eyes  in  their  natural 
position,  and  in  each  there  is  an  incised  line  marking  off  the  head 
from  the  body.  In  these  two  specimens,  the  eyes  and  the  lines 
forming  the  neck  are  the  only  physical  characteristics  retained. 
In  room  38  was  found  a  frog  made  of  jet,  having  turquoise 
eyes,  a  hand  of  turquoise  across  the  neck,  and  legs  carved  in  re¬ 
lief.  This  specimen  is  the  highest  type  of  frog  discovered  in 
Pueblo  Bonito;  that  is,  the  most  realistic  representation.  It  is 
flattened  and  of  the  same  general  form  as  the  two  turquoise  speci¬ 
mens  now  under  consideration.  In  the  turquoise  frog  it  will 
be  noticed  that  the  body  is  rounded  and  that  the  head  is  smaller 
than  the  opposite  end.  The  other  two  frogs  shown  in  the  same 
plate  have  the  eyes  carved  in  relief,  but  no  care  was  taken  to 
place  them  in  their  natural  position;  nor  have  the  bodies  the 
taper  noticeable  in  the  other  two  specimens.  The  largest  of 
these  four  frogs  measures  1.3  cm.  in  length,  9  mm.  in  width,  and 
4  mm.  in  thickness ;  while  the  length  of  the  smallest  is  8  mm., 
the  width  5  mm.,  and  the  thickness  3  mm.  In  the  seven  pieces 
of  turquoise  of  similar  form,  represented  in  plate  IV,  3,  none  show 
the  physical  features  of  the  frog.  In  shape  and  general  technique 
they  are  exactly  similar  to  the  other  specimens,  and  to  the  Indian 
mind  they  typified  the  frog,  no  doubt,  in  as  great  a  degree  as  did 
the  more  elaborate  ones.  Each  specimen  of  this  form  is  drilled 
laterally  through  the  central  part  of  the  body  for  suspension. 


23B  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  specimen  from  room  38,  representing  the  highest  type 
of  frog,  and  the  specimens  from  room  33,  constitute  an  inter¬ 
esting  series.  The  jet  frog  shows  most  of  the  physical  features 
in  relief ;  the  next  graduation  shows  the  eyes  and  the  neck  divis¬ 
ion  only;  in  the  next  stage  the  eyes  remain,  but  not  in  their 
natural  position;  while  in  the  fourth  and  last  stage  is  repre¬ 
sented  a  mere  utilitarian  form  that  would  not  be  suggestive  of 
the  frog,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  the  other  specimens  are  in 
evidence. 

Another  specimen,  made  entirely  of  turquoise,  found  asso¬ 
ciated  with  the  skeletons  in  the  room,  is  a  pear-shaped  object 
made  by  combining  three  pieces  (H-10425).  This  is  2.8  cm.  in 
length,  1.8  cm.  in  width  at  the  widest  part,  and  6  mm.  in  thick¬ 
ness.  The  stem  part  is  rounded,  but  the  lower  part  of  the  body 
is  perfectly  flat.  There  are  evidences  that  it  once  was  covered 
with  a  mosaic.  The  turquoise  used  is  of  the  matrix  variety,  and, 
from  the  general  color,  it  is  reasonably  certain  that  all  three  sec¬ 
tions  were  cut  from  one  piece.  The  only  plausible  explanation 
why  the  ancient  workers  should  have  taken  great  trouble  to 
square  the  edges  of  the  sections  in  forming  an  object  of  this  kind 
is,  that  the  shape  of  the  original  piece  would  not  admit  of  cutting 
out  an  object  of  the  size  desired.  The  labor  spent  on  this  speci¬ 
men  must  have  required  a  great  many  days,  for  each  face  at  the 
joints  is  perfectly  smooth  and  polished;  and  so  carefully  has 
the  work  been  done,  that,  at  a  distance  of  a  few  feet,  the  lines 
where  the  pieces  join  can  hardly  be  seen.  Without  doubt  the 
present  object  is  one  of  the  most  perfect  specimens  ever  found 
in  the  Pueblo  area,  demonstrating  conclusively  the  skill  of  the 
old  lapidaries. 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  239 


A  cylinder  of  hematite  inlaid  with  turquoise  (H- 10420)  is 
shown  in  fig.5.  When 
entire,  evidently  this 
object  represented  a 

bird.  The  wings  are  FiG.  5  —  Hematite  cylinder  ornamented  with  turquoise, 
indicated  by  pyram¬ 
idal  pieces  of  turquoise  so  let  into  the  surface  of  the  hematite 
that  their  edges  are  practically  flush  therewith.  Both  pieces  are 
rounded  to  conform  with  the  contour  of  the  cylinder.  There  was 
evidently  a  mosaic  band  at  each  end  of  the  cylinder,  and  vestiges 
of  the  gum  that  held  these  bands  in  place  are  still  visible.  One 
end  of  the  hematite  portion  is  rounded,  and  is  evidently  complete. 
The  opposite  end  is  drilled,  and,  from  its  appearance,  it  seems 
quite  probable  that  there  was  once  another  piece  attached  thereto. 
When  the  material  from  this  room  was  being  studied,  a  drilled 
piece  of  dark  red  stone  (that  had  been  considered  a  bead)  was 
fitted  to  the  hematite  cylinder,  and  proved  to  be  the  missing 
part.  Having  this  connecting  piece,  it  was  an  easy  matter  to 
find  the  remaining  portion,  which  was  a  pointed  piece  of  tur¬ 
quoise  bearing  a  bird-figure  carved  in  relief.  Originally  the 
object  must  have  been  one  of  great  beauty:  even  in  its  present 
state,  it  proves  the  skill  of  the  old  Pueblo  makers  as  workers  of 
stone.  In  its  entirety  this  specimen  measures  5.4  cm.  in  length, 
and  8  mm.  in  diameter  at  the  widest  part. 

A  portion  of  a  mosaic  object  was  taken  from  the  debris. 
The  work  was  done  on  a  haliotis  shell,  and,  although  the  speci¬ 
men  is  merely  a  fragment,  it  shows  the  manner  of  using  the 
large  turquoise  sets,  a  great  many  of  which  were  found  in  this 
room.  The  design  is  formed  by  combining  turquoise,  jet,  and 


240 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


shell,  the  pieces  being  attached  to  the  shell  by  means  of  gum. 
The  general  technique  of  this  object  is  similar  to  that  shown  in 
connection  with  the  mosaic  band  on  a  scraper  found  in  room  38 
of  this  ruin.1  In  describing  the  shell  trumpet  unearthed  in  this 
room  (see  page  226),  mention  was  made  of  a  mouthpiece  ( LI- 

12787;  fig.  6)  found  with  the  skeletons. 
It  is  made  of  some  composition,  chiefly 
gum.  The  mouthpiece  is  irregular  in 
shape,  the  longer  axis  being  2.3  cm.  in 
length.  The  opening  is  rounded  and  the 
sides  are  covered  with  crude  turquoise 
mosaic.  The  under  part  shows  the  con¬ 
tour  of  the  shell  to  which  it  was  attached. 
A  specimen  similar,  but  somewhat  larger, 

was  found  in  room  48. 

In  considering  the  general  objects  of  turquoise  taken  from 
this  room,  the  pendants  first  will  receive  attention.  There  were 
503  perfect  specimens  and  nine  broken  ones  found  with  the 
bodies,  excluding  the  specimens  already  described  as  having 
been  found  with  skeletons  Nos.  13  and  14,  or  in  the  corners  of 
the  room.  These  503  objects  comprise  71  large  pendants  and  432 
small  ones.  A  series  of  the  large  pendants  is  shown  in  plate 
vi.  In  the  first  group  are  represented  four  matched  pairs 
and  one  single  pendant.  The  pair  in  the  upper  row  are  more 
nearly  free  from  the  trachyte  matrix  than  are  any  of  the  other 
specimens.  They  are  3.2  cm.  long,  2.5  cm.  wide,  and  average  3.5 
mm.  in  thickness.  As  is  the  case  with  all  the  specimens  shown 
on  this  plate,  with  exception  of  the  pair  represented  in  the  center 

1  Ceremonial  Objects  and  Ornaments  from  Pueblo  Bonito,  American  Anthropologist, 
n.s.,  vii,  No.  2,  1905. 


Fig.  6  —  Mouthpiece  for 
shell  trumpet,  incrusted 
with  turquoise. 


BARGE  TURQUOISE  PENDANTS  FOUND  IN  VARIOUS  PARTS  OF  THE  ROOM 


Pepper  -  Pueblo  Bonito  Plate  VI 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  241 


of  the  upper  and  lower  rows,  these  pendants  are  drilled  for  sus¬ 
pension.  The  surface  is  heavily  mottled  with  trachyte,  and  the 
backs  of  both  specimens  consist  entirely  of  a  layer  of  this  mater¬ 
ial.  The  pair  represented  in  the  lower  row  on  the  plate  is  similar 
to  the  pair  just  described,  both  in  appearance  and  in  being  com¬ 
posed  equally  of  turquoise  matrix  and  pure  trachyte.  The  pair 
shown  with  the  central  pendant  are  the  largest  found  in  this 
room.  The  back  of  each  is  solid  trachyte.  These  specimens 
measure  4.8  cm.  in  length,  3.7  cm.  in  width  at  their  widest  part, 
and  5  mm.  in  thickness  at  the  center,  the  thickness  decreasing 
toward  the  edges.  The  central  pendant  is  of  very  light  turquoise 
interspersed  with  matrix.  It  is  entirely  different  in  character 
from  the  other  specimens  on  the  plate,  in  that  it  is  more  nearly 
round  in  form,  and  of  greater  thickness  for  its  length,  than  any 
of  the  other  pendants.  The  four  pendants  represented  in  the 
center  of  the  right  half  of  plate  VI  were  found  in  the  north¬ 
eastern  corner,  and  are  described  with  the  other  objects  found 
in  that  part  of  the  room.  The  pair  in  the  upper  row  are  free 
from  matrix,  and  both  sides,  as  well  as  the  edges,  are  highly 
polished.  The  central  pendant  is  of  irregular  form,  and  is 
pitted  with  bands  and  veins  of  trachyte.  The  pendants  on  each 
side  of  the  central  one  in  the  lower  row  are  interesting  on  ac¬ 
count  of  their  size,  and  also  as  showing  the  great  variety  of  tints 
in  the  turquoise  from  this  region.  Among  the  other  large  pen¬ 
dants  which  were  probably  used  as  ear-drops  are  a  number  that 
are  matched  and  evidently  formed  pairs.  These  are  of  various 
forms  and  sizes;  but  the  plate  already  described  gives  a  very 
comprehensive  idea  of  the  general  form  and  the  variety  of  the 
pendants  found  in  the  room. 


242 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


In  plate  VII,  1,  is  represented  a  series  of  turquoise  pendants, 
beads,  ornaments,  and  inlays.  The  small  pendants  give  a  fair 
idea  of  some  of  the  forms  made  of  this  material.  The  only  speci¬ 
men  that  needs  special  mention  is  the  one  illustrated  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  plate.  This  pendant  (H-3735)  is  a  flattened  cylinder 
3.2  cm.  in  length  and  1  cm.  in  diameter  on  the  average.  There 
is  a  large  hole  drilled  in  the  upper  part,  as  shown  in  the  illus¬ 
tration.  Just  above  the  hole,  in  the  end,  two  holes  are  drilled, 
both  of  which  meet  the  larger  one.  A  bead  or  other  object  was 
evidently  fastened  to  the  top  of  this  piece. 

The  turquoise  beads  discovered  numbered  24,932;  of  these 
eight  were  of  cylindrical  form  with  the  edges  rounded,  and  six¬ 
teen  were  of  the  figure-eight  form,  the  remainder  being  of  the 
disk-shaped  type,  three  of  which  are  shown  in  the  second  row  of 
plate  VII,  1.  Just  above  these  are  shown  two  of  the  same  form 
with  the  edges  rounded. 

With  the  groups  of  beads,  a  great  many  pieces  of  turquoise 
that  had  been  worked,  and  small  pieces  of  matrix,  were  discov¬ 
ered,  numbering  in  all  1052  pieces;  also  451  turquoise  sets  or  in¬ 
lays,  probably  used  in  mosaic  work.  A  series  of  these  is  shown  in 
the  lower  part  of  plate  VII,  1 .  Some  of  them  are  very  small,  while 
others  measure  2.3  cm.  in  length.  The  set  in  the  right-hand  cor¬ 
ner  is  mended  with  a  piece  of  turquoise  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  pendant  found  in  the  northeastern  corner  of  the  room  (pi.  IV, 
2).  In  this  instance,  a  pendant  was  used,  no  doubt,  to  form  the 
inlay,  the  hole  drilled  for  the  suspension  of  the  object  being  filled 
with  a  turquoise  set. 

In  plate  VII,  1,  three  ornaments  of  turquoise  are  shown;  the 
one  at  the  top  (in  the  center)  representing  a  bird,  while  the  one 


Examples  of  turquoise  beads,  pendants,  and  iidays  found  with  the  skeletons.  2.  Ceremonial  sticks  found  between 

ceiling  beams  in  southwestern  corner  of  room 


CsJ 


PkppER — Puebeo  Bonito  Peate  VII 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  243 


directly  below  the  circular  piece  has  a  bird  carved  on  the  sur¬ 
face.  In  studying  the  material  taken  from  the  room  since  this 
illustration  was  made,  it  has  been  found  that  this  object  was  a 
part  of  the  hematite  cylinder,  and  may  be  seen  in  the  illustration 
of  that  object  in  figure  5.  The  circular  figure  above  the  speci¬ 
men  just  described  is  a  thin  piece  of  turquoise  having  a  rectangu¬ 
lar  hole  in  the  center.  The  edges  of  this  hole  are  beveled,  and  it 
is  quite  evident  that  it  once  contained  a  set.  On  the  opposite  side 
of  the  piece  are  the  remains  of  gum,  which  would  seem  to  show 
that  the  whole  surface  was  once  covered  with  mosaic.  Another 
specimen  of  similar  form,  and  about  the  same  size,  was  found  in 
the  room,  but  it  was  in  fragments. 

Among  the  shell  objects  unearthed  in  removing  the  skele¬ 
tons  were  2042  beads  of  various  forms,  most  of  these  being  of  the 
disk-shaped  and  figure-eight  types,  and  specimens  made  of  olivel- 
la  shells.  There  are  twelve  beads  of  a  long  cylindrical  type; 
these  average  a  centimeter  in  diameter,  and  the  longest  one  is  4.5 
cm.  in  length.  They  are  so  drilled  that  only  a  thin  wall  remains. 
Provision  was  thus  made  for  the  insertion  of  a  bird-bone,  and 
three  of  the  beads  still  retain  the  bone-sections.  One  of  these  is 
shown  in  figure  3.  One  is  in  a  fair  state  of  preservation,  but  the 
other  one  is  so  far  disintegrated  that  only  a  fragment  of  the  shell 
remains. 

Other  objects  secured  were  ten  disks  of  haliotis  shell,  similar 
to  the  one  described  as  taken  from  the  northwestern  corner  of 
the  room,  eight  pieces  of  shell  that  had  been  worked,  eighty-nine 
fragments  of  shell  bracelets,  seventeen  shell  pendants  of  various 
forms,  two  large  beads  made  from  oliva  shells,  and  an  inlaid  shell 
(H- 1 2783).  This  object  was  evidently  once  a  pendant,  but  the 


244 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


hole  is  filled  with  a  shell  set  in  the  same  manner  as  that  shown  in 
some  of  the  turquoise  pieces.  A  large  bird-form  made  of  shell 
was  also  found.  The  wings  are  represented  as  outstretched  as 
in  flight,  the  tail  as  having  a  notched  base,  while  the  head  also 
is  well  formed.  From  tip  to  tip  of  the  outstretched  wings  it 
measures  6.2  cm.,  and  from  the  head  to  the  end  of  the  tail  4.7 
cm.  A  hole  is  drilled  through  the  head,  another  hole  where  the 
wings  join  the  body,  and  the  third  at  the  bifurcation  of  the  tail. 
This  object  seems  to  have  been  merely  a  form  on  which  a  mosaic 
figure  was  developed.  From  the  curvature  of  some  of  the  sets, 
and  from  the  angular  form  of  others,  it  would  seem  that  the  sur¬ 
face  had  not  only  been  covered  with  turquoise,  but  that  the  whole 
figure  had  been  outlined  with  a  broad  band  of  the  same  material. 
The  hole  at  the  point  where  the  tail  joins  the  body  is  filled  with 
gum,  and  the  whole  upper  surface  of  the  shell  still  retains  a 
layer  of  similar  material. 

In  the  debris  there  were  173  sets  or  inlays  made  of  stone  and 
jet,  and  also  a  few  beads  made  of  red  and  gray  stone. 

In  figure  7  a  fragment  of  a  jet  ring  is  shown.  From  the  con¬ 
tour  of  the  fragment,  the  ring  must  have  been 
about  2.3  cm.  in  diameter,  and  the  width  of 
the  band  1.4  cm.  The  most  interesting  feature 
of  this  specimen  is  a  repaired  portion.  On 
each  side,  the  surface  was  cut  away,  for  the 
width  of  nine  millimeters,  to  a  depth  of  a 
millimeter.  In  the  cavity  a  rectangular  con- 
Fm.  7  — Fragment  of  cavo-convex  piece  of  jet  is  glued.  This  inset 

jet  ring  with  jet  inset. 

had  fallen  from  its  original  position  when  the 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  245 


specimen  was  found.  There  are  evidences  that  a  similar  piece 
of  jet  had  been  adjusted  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  specimen. 

The  only  object  of  metal  found  in  this  room  is  an  inlay  or 
set  made  of  iron  pyrites.  This  specimen  is  1.6  cm.  in  diameter 
and  2  mm.  in  thickness.  Another  specimen  was  discovered  by 
an  Indian  who  was  shoveling  the  dirt  from  room  33,  and  it  is 
safe  to  assume  that  he  found  it  in  that  room.  It  is  slightly  smaller 
than  the  other  specimen,  but  is  of  the  same  thickness.  Objects 
made  of  iron  pyrites  are  rare  among  the  Pueblos  of  the  South¬ 
west,  and  there  is  but  little  evidence  that  the  ancient  inhabitants 
utilized  this  material  to  any  considerable  extent,  although  its 
use  in  Old  Mexico  in  the  manufacture  of  mirrors,  beads,  etc., 
is  well  known. 

Among  the  general  objects  found  buried  with  the  bodies 
were  fragments  of  canyon  walnuts,  pinon-nuts,  a  number  of  seeds, 
a  circular  piece  of  gourd-rind  having  a  hole  drilled  through  the 
central  part,  fragments  of  textiles  that  no  doubt  had  been 
wrapped  about  the  bodies,  a  perfectly  transparent  quartz  crystal 
and  another  crystal  chipped  into  the  shape  of  a  crude  knife, 
pieces  of  gypsum,  a  piece  each  of  limonite,  azurite,  mica,  and  of 
pink  stone  used  in  making  inlays,  pieces  of  yellow  ocher,  of  gyp¬ 
sum,  of  arrow-shafts,  and  of  chalcedony  (some  of  the  last  named 
having  been  worked),  six  arrow-points  of  chalcedony  and  obsi¬ 
dian,  pieces  of  chalcedony  ground  by  the  action  of  a  turkey’s 
gizzard,  a  few  fragments  of  pottery,  a  small  circular  mat  made 
of  yucca  cord  (which  may  have  been  used  as  a  jar-rest) ,  a  number 
of  fragments  of  animal  bones  (some  of  which  had  been  broken 
to  obtain  the  marrow) ,  and  the  fragment  of  a  bone  awl. 


246  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  room  under  consideration  is  very  small  compared  with 
the  rooms  in  the  northern  part  of  the  building.  It  is  situated 
in  a  section  where  there  evidently  was  a  great  deal  of  reconstruc¬ 
tion  work,  to  which  fact,  no  doubt,  may  be  attributed  the  presence 
of  so  many  small  rooms  grouped  about  room  33.  The  length  of 
the  northern  wall  of  the  room  is  6  ft.,  of  the  southern  wall  6 
ft.  3  in.,  of  the  eastern  wall  5  ft.  10  in.,  and  of  the  western 
wall  6  ft.  10  in.;  that  is,  the  room  is  almost  square.  The  door¬ 
way  in  the  eastern  wall  is  2  ft.  3  in.  from  the  southern  wall. 
It  is  of  the  ordinary  rectangular  type, —  1  ft.  10  in.  high  and 
2  ft.  3  in.  wide,  —  provided  with  poles  for  a  lintel.  This  is 
the  only  entrance  to  the  room.  The  sides  of  the  doorway  are 
plastered,  as  are  all  of  the  walls.  There  are  no  decorations  on 
the  walls,  nor  are  there  evidences  of  the  room  having  been  made 
for  a  burial-chamber.  In  the  southwestern  corner  is  a  post 
that  was  placed  under  the  crossbeams,  which  extend  north  and 
south,  as  a  precautionary  measure.  These  beams  enter  the  nor¬ 
thern  and  southern  walls;  but,  in  adding  new  rooms  above  this 
series,  the  builders  evidently  thought  it  advisable  to  strengthen 
the  floors  with  posts.  The  top  of  the  post  mentioned  had  fallen 
against  the  western  wall.  Its  base  stands  about  a  foot  from  both 
the  western  and  the  southern  wall.  The  largest  post  in  the  room 
was  found  under  the  beam  in  the  northwestern  corner.  Its  dis¬ 
tance  from  the  walls  is  about  the  same  as  in  the  case  of  the  post 
in  the  southwestern  corner.  In  the  northeastern  corner  are  two 
posts,  one  of  which  supports  the  ceiling-beam,  standing  three 
inches  from  the  eastern  wall  and  a  foot  from  the  northern  wall; 
the  other  post  is  four  inches  west  of  the  one  just  mentioned,  about 
the  same  distance  from  the  northern  wall,  and  extending  through 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  247 


the  ceiling  into  the  room  above.  A  post  in  the  southeastern 
corner  at  the  base  is  six  inches  from  each  wall,  but  has  fallen 
against  the  eastern  wall.  The  ceiling  is  composed  of  thirteen 
beams,  of  various  sizes,  over  which  is  a  layer  of  cedar-bark.  In 
the  southwestern  corner,  at  a  distance  of  1  ft.  6  in.  from  the 
ceiling-beams,  were  five  willow-sticks  protruding  from  the  wall, 
and  forming  a  sort  of  rack;  but  nothing  was  found  in  it.  The 
room  in  its  entirety  is  in  a  very  good  state  of  preservation,  the 
only  defect  being  a  slight  bulge  in  the  ceiling. 

Conclusions 

The  use  of  this  room  for  burial  purposes  was  evidently  a 
secondary  one.  It  is  in  an  old  part  of  the  building,  where  many 
of  the  rooms  had  been  abandoned  and  others  reconstructed.  The 
surrounding  rooms  had  been  taken  for  burial  purposes  and  for 
the  storage  of  ceremonial  material.  Although  skeletons  were 
found  in  rooms  in  other  parts  of  the  pueblo,  none  presented  con¬ 
ditions  similar  to  those  existing  in  the  case  under  consideration. 

As  no  burial-mounds  were  in  evidence  near  Pueblo  Bonito, 
and  as  there  were  comparatively  few  rock  burials  in  the  vicinity, 
intramural  inhumation  was  to  be  expected.  But  when  it  is 
considered  that  valuable  jewelry  and  ceremonial  paraphernalia 
were  buried  with  practically  all  of  the  bodies  in  this  series  of 
rooms,  it  would  seem  that  in  life  the  deceased  must  have  belonged 
to  the  priesthood,  and  have  been  buried  within  the  walls  of  the 
pueblo  both  as  a  mark  of  respect  and  as  a  means  of  protecting 
their  graves  from  possible  spoliation  at  the  hands  of  semi-no¬ 
madic  tribes.  The  Navaho  and  the  Ute  prize  ornaments  of 
turquoise  above  all  other  possessions;  and  their  greed  for  this 


24B  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


material,  both  for  personal  ornament  and  for  use  as  a  medium 
of  exchange,  would  cause  them  to  go  to  almost  any  extreme  to 
obtain  it.  From  the  exploration  of  burial-mounds  near  pueblos 
of  the  Chaco  group,  it  is  known  that  practically  no  turquoise 
was  buried  with  the  bodies,  the  non-perishable  material  being 
confined  almost  exclusively  to  fictile  productions.  This  fact 
suggests  that  the  pueblos  of  this  region,  probably  without  excep¬ 
tion,  contain  the  remains  of  those  who  were  either  members  of 
the  priesthood,  caciques,  or  who  held  other  positions  of  impor¬ 
tance  in  the  community.  This  is  known  to  be  true  of  Pueblo 
Bonito  and  of  Penasca  Blanca;  for  in  both  these  pueblos  masses 
of  turquoise  ornaments  have  been  found  associated  with  bodies 
buried  in  the  rooms,  and  further  research  in  these  and  other 
ruins  should  result  in  similar  discoveries. 

The  series  of  burial-chambers  that  includes  room  33  at  one 
time  was  connected  with  room  28,  which  adjoins  room  32  on  the 
south.  The  doorway  connecting  these  rooms  was  filled  with 
masonry  which  appeared  to  be  part  of  the  original  wall.  This 
may  have  been  done  when  the  pueblo  was  abandoned.  The  door¬ 
way  between  rooms  32  and  33  was  open,  as  were  all  of  the  other 
doorways  of  the  group.  The  rooms  themselves  show  no  evidence 
of  having  been  prepared  for  burial  purposes,  and  there  are  no 
decorations  on  the  walls. 

Owing  to  the  havoc  wrought  by  the  inflow  of  water,  the 
only  preparations  for  burial  that  could  be  noted  were  those  in 
connection  with  skeletons  Nos.  13  and  14.  In  this  instance  the 
floor  had  been  covered  with  a  layer  of  yellow  sand  on  which 
a  layer  of  wood-ashes  had  been  placed.  The  bodies  were  placed 
near  each  other,  and,  from  the  positions  in  which  they  were 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  249 


found,  it  would  seem  that  they  had  been  buried  at  the  same 
time.  The  skull  of  one  of  them  was  crushed,  —  a  feature  which 
suggests  an  accident  in  which  the  two  persons,  and  perhaps 
others  buried  in  this  room,  may  have  lost  their  lives. 

The  floor  that  separated  the  burials  is  worthy  of  notice. 
It  was  made  of  boards  that  had  been  shaped  and  smoothed  until 
of  uniform  thickness;  these  were  adjusted  so  as  to  cover  com¬ 
pletely  the  floor-space  presented  by  the  sand  placed  over  the 
first  burials.  The  boards  bore  no  evidences  of  ornamentation; 
the  only  feature  worthy  of  note  was  the  hole  cut  in  the  eastern 
end  of  one  of  the  boards.  This  may  have  been  an  opening  of 
symbolic  character,  similar  to  the  sipapu ,  the  entrance  to  the 
underworld,  that  plays  so  important  a  part  in  the  mythology  of 
the  Hopi.  But,  whatever  the  purpose  of  the  opening  or  the 
import  of  the  floor,  here  is  evidence  of  the  skill  of  the  ancient 
people  in  working  wood,  which,  with  their  primitive  stone, 
bone,  and  shell  tools,  was  a  task  requiring  no  little  dexterity. 
In  studying  this  and  all  other  classes  of  work,  the  fact  must  be 
borne  in  mind,  that,  so  far  as  can  be  learned,  they  had  no  metal 
implements. 

Unfortunately,  the  twelve  burials  above  the  floor  were  dis¬ 
turbed  to  the  extent  that  the  positions  and  the  character  of  the 
objects  buried  with  the  several  skeletons  respectively  could  not 
be  determined.  The  fact  that  so  many  bodies  were  placed  in  so 
small  a  room,  and  that  they  had  been  covered  with  sand  as  they 
were  buried,  presents  a  phase  of  intramural  burials  somewhat 
uncommon.  Apart  from  this  feature,  the  burials  furnish  but 
meager  data  for  study. 


250 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  materials  found  with  the  bodies  were  in  an  unusually 
good  state  of  preservation,  especially  as  the  effects  of  surface 
drainage  in  the  room  were  so  apparent.  In  most  cases  the  ob¬ 
jects  made  of  wood  (a  really  remarkable  series)  were  fortunately 
intact. 

To  students  of  Pueblo  life,  the  flageolets  are  undoubtedly 
the  most  interesting  specimens.  Instruments  of  this  nature  have 
been  found  in  other  ruins,  including  cliff-dwellings,  and  frag¬ 
ments  were  unearthed  in  other  parts  of  Pueblo  Bonito;  but  the 
series  taken  from  this  room  furnishes  conclusive  evidence  of 
the  type  of  flageolet  used  in  this  pueblo,  and  demonstrates  also  the 
style  of  decoration  employed  and  the  application  of  the  decora¬ 
tive  elements.  Judging  from  the  prevalence  of  Flute  observances 
and  the  large  Flute  fraternity  among  the  Hopi,  it  may  be  safe 
to  assume  that  certain  persons  at  least,  if  not  all  of  the  men  buried 
in  this  room,  had  been  members  of  a  similar  order.  Students  of 
Pueblo  rites  and  societies  assert  that  the  Flute  clan  is  a  very  old 
one ;  and  as  the  flutes  used  in  the  Hopi  ceremonials  of  the  present 
time  are  similar  to  those  found  in  room  33,  it  may  be  that  the 
type  has  been  handed  down  from  the  early  days;  nor  would  it 
be  surprising  to  find  that  the  Flute  societies  had  their  beginning 
in  the  Chaco  region,  as  many  of  the  clan  migrations  have  been 
traced  from  this  group  to  their  present  home  in  the  province  of 
Tusayan  in  Arizona. 

The  ceremonial  sticks  also  point  to  a  Flute  clan  origin. 
Similar  sticks  are  used  to-day  by  members  of  the  Hopi  Flute 
societies  in  certain  of  their  ceremonies;  but  the  details  of  this 
similarity  must  be  deferred  to  another  time,  when  the  great 


BURIAL-ROOM  IN  PUEBLO  BONITO  251 

mass  of  ceremonial  sticks  found  in  the  adjoining  room  is  de¬ 
scribed. 

Pottery  vessels  were  buried  with  the  dead  in  all  parts  of 
the  Pueblo  area,  but  none  of  the  tribes  were  given  to  the  practice 
of  making  special  mortuary  vessels.  Sacrificial  pottery  was 
made  in  some  pueblos  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  but  this  generally 
took  the  form  of  mere  models,  oftentimes  unbaked.  These  are 
found  especially  in  and  about  springs.  Many  pieces  of  this  kind 
were  discovered  in  the  rooms  of  Pueblo  Bonito,  but  under  such 
conditions  that  it  is  hard  to  determine  whether  they  were  made 
for  ceremonial  purposes  or  for  use  as  toys:  none  were  found  in 
room  33.  The  vessels  buried  with  the  bodies  are  of  the  common 
forms,  such  as  were  found  in  the  living-rooms.  There  was  one 
exception,  namely,  the  cylindrical  jars;  but  judging  from  the 
numerous  specimens  of  these  vessels  taken  from  room  28,  and 
from  the  fact  that  none  were  found  in  the  mound  or  rock  burials, 
they  were  used,  no  doubt,  primarily  in  ceremonies,  probably  con¬ 
stituting  part  of  certain  altar  paraphernalia. 

Turquoise  was  one  of  the  most  common  materials  employed 
in  the  pueblos  for  ornamental  purposes.  The  major  portion  of 
the  supply  used  by  this  group  of  towns  came  from  Los  Cerillos, 
near  Santa  Fe.  There  are  evidences  of  great  mining  activity  in 
the  prehistoric  period,  and  the  mines  are  worked,  to  some  extent, 
at  the  present  time.  This  turquoise  is  found  in  a  trachyte  matrix; 
many  of  the  veins  are  very  thin,  as  shown  by  the  backing  of 
stone  on  some  of  the  large  pendants.  The  great  quantity  of 
ornaments  in  room  33,  made  from  this  material,  presents  a  wide 
range  of  forms;  many  variants  of  known  types  are  available, 
while  pendants  of  new  forms  were  also  found. 


252  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

The  mosaic  and  the  incrusted  objects  from  this  region, 
although  not  new  to  science,  show  the  high  degree  of  skill  at¬ 
tained  by  these  people  and  their  esthetic  tendencies.  Their  idea 
of  proportion  and  of  color-values  is  evidenced  by  the  careful 
portrayal  of  detail  in  the  incrusted  objects,  as  illustrated,  to  some 
extent,  by  the  objects  from  this  room,  and  still  more  by  the  series 
obtained  from  other  rooms  of  the  ruin.  The  mosaic  cylinder  — 
the  only  incrusted  basket  that  has  come  to  the  notice  of  the 
writer  —  is  especially  interesting.  The  covering  of  ceremonial 
packages,  and  the  incrusting  of  trumpet  mouthpieces,  suggest 
the  extent  to  which  the  embellishment  of  ornaments  and  cere¬ 
monial  objects  was  carried. 

A  final  survey  of  the  objects  discovered  in  this  room  tends 
to  prove  that  the  burials  were  made  at  a  time  when  the  esthetic 
arts  of  the  ancient  people  were  at  their  height.  These  specimens 
are  in  keeping  with  the  most  ornate  productions  from  other 
parts  of  the  ruin,  and,  viewed  as  a  whole,  these  productions 
afford  conclusive  evidence  that  the  people  of  Pueblo  Bonito 
reached  as  high  a  degree  of  proficiency  in  the  arts  as  those  of 
any  other  pueblo  in  the  Southwest.  Further  investigation  doubt¬ 
less  will  establish  the  fact  that  the  arts  of  the  Chaco  Canyon 
group  mark  the  zenith  of  Pueblo  estheticism. 

American  Museum  of  Natural  History 
New  York 


TRIBAL  STRUCTURE:  A  STUDY  OF  THE  OMAHA 
AND  COGNATE  TRIBES 


BY 

Alice  C.  Fletcher 

WHEN  the  natives  of  America  were  first  encountered  by 
the  white  race,  the  name  bestowed  on  the  people,  and 
the  terms  used  to  designate  the  groups  into  which 
they  were  divided,  were  all  necessarily  borrowed  from  the  East¬ 
ern  continent,  and  represented  conditions  which  obtained  among 
the  peoples  of  that  region.  The  employment  of  the  designation 
“tribe”  for  the  different  groups  that  spoke  different  languages 
and  occupied  different  localities,  served  its  purpose  fairly  well, 
and  still  serves  the  student  of  ethnology.  Tribes  have  been 
classed  into  dialect  groups,  and  these  related  groups  have  formed 
linguistic  stocks.  In  all  this  classification  on  the  basis  of  lan¬ 
guage,  the  term  “tribe”  has  been  convenient  and  serviceable,  and 
has  not  led  to  any  confusion. 

When  the  tribe  was  more  closely  examined,  it  was  found 
that  the  people  composing  it  were  divided  into  groups,  and  these 
groups  were  designated  as  “bands,”  “clans,”  “septs,”  and 
“gentes.”  All  these  terms  had  their  definite  European  meaning; 
they  had  arisen  out  of  social  conditions,  which,  upon  close  obser¬ 
vation,  are  not  to  be  found  on  this  continent. 

The  term  “band”  is  of  so  general  a  character  that  it  can  be 
made  to  mean  much  or  little,  and  be  applied  in  an  elastic  manner 


254 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


to  almost  any  group  of  people  associated  together  for  any  pur¬ 
pose,  either  of  a  temporary  or  of  a  more  permanent  nature.  It 
can  hardly  be  used  as  a  distinctive  designation  to  indicate  the 
character  or  composition  of  any  group.  It  is  entirely  negative, 
and  leaves  the  group  to  which  it  is  applied  without  any  distinc¬ 
tive  designation  by  which  to  classify  it. 

The  terms  “clan,”  “sept,”  “gens,”  however,  have  each  a  defi¬ 
nite  meaning.  They  have  come  into  use  as  designations  of  an 
organized  group  of  people  subject  to  certain  conditions  and  to 
the  control  of  certain  officials.  They  have  been,  and  are  still, 
applied  to  the  subdivisions  which  exist  in  the  tribe  as  it  is  found 
in  this  country;  and  the  question  as  to  whether  or  not  they 
can  properly  be  given  to  the  subdivisions  of  the  American  tribe 
is  one  that  has  engaged  the  attention  of  students.  It  is  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  this  paper  to  present  a  picture  of  the  tribal  structure  of 
a  small  group  of  cognates  which  has  been  under  the  observation 
of  the  writer  for  more  than  twenty-five  years,  and  to  note,  in 
passing,  how  far  these  terms  are  applicable  to  the  subdivisions  of 
these  tribes. 

A  clan  is  defined  to  be  “a  body  of  kindred  having  a  class 
name,  and  ruled  by  an  hereditary  chieftain.”  Some  years  since, 
Major  J.  W.  Powell,  then  director  of  the  Bureau  of  American 
Ethnology,  suggested  that  the  term  “clan”  be  employed  spe¬ 
cifically  to  indicate  descent  through  the  maternal  line  rather 
than  to  indicate  a  form  of  government.  Following  this  sugges¬ 
tion,  the  word  has  since  been  so  used  by  many  American  writers, 
and  has  proved  to  be  a  convenient  term. 

A  sept  is  stated  to  be  “a  group  of  persons  claiming  descent 
from  a  common  ancestor,  and  subject  to  the  authority  of  an 


TRIBAL  STRUCTURE 


255 


hereditary  chief.”  This  word  is  rarely  used  by  American 
writers,  except  in  a  loose  way,  as  a  synonym  for  clan. 

The  term  “gens”  has  a  more  definite  meaning,  as  its  use  in 
ancient  Roman  society  is  well  known.  It  may  be  said  to  repre¬ 
sent  a  group  of  families  claiming  descent  from  a  common  ances¬ 
tor  from  whom  the  gens  took  its  name.  Common  religious  rites 
bound  the  members  of  the  gens  together,  and  descent  was  traced 
solely  through  the  father.  This  term  Major  Powell  proposed 
should  be  used  to  indicate  those  American  kinship  groups  which 
traced  their  descent  through  the  paternal  line,  and  it  has  since 
been  so  used  by  several  American  students. 

It  has  been  asserted  by  an  eminent  scholar,  that  “the  Grecian 
gens,  phratry,  and  tribe,  and  the  Roman  gens,  curia,  and  tribe, 
find  their  analogies  in  the  gens,  phratry,  and  tribe  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  aborigines.  In  like  manner,  the  Irish  sept,  the  Scottish  clan, 
the  phrara  of  the  Albanians,  and  the  Sanskrit  ganas,  without 
extending  the  comparison  further,  are  the  same  as  the  American 
Indian  gens,  which  has  usually  been  called  a  clan.”  At  the  time 
when  Dr  Lewis  H.  Morgan  made  this  statement,  thirty  years 
ago,  there  had  been  few  careful  studies  made  of  any  of  the  native 
tribes  of  America.  His  broad  generalizations  served  a  good  pur¬ 
pose  :  they  stimulated  the  research  which  has,  in  a  few  instances, 
necessitated  qualification  of  some  of  his  statements. 

There  are  points  of  similarity  among  the  organizations  men¬ 
tioned  by  Dr  Morgan  in  the  quotation  given  above,  but  there 
are  also  points  of  divergence ;  and  these  latter,  in  some  instances, 
are  important  factors  in  determining  the  tribal  structure. 

The  tribes  considered  in  this  paper  in  reference  to  their 
tribal  structure  are  the  Omaha  and  its  close  cognates,  —  the  Pon- 


256  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


ka,  Osage,  Kansa,  and  Quapaw.  All  of  these  tribes  belong  to  the 
Siouan  linguistic  stock.  Their  habitat,  when  they  were  first 
encountered  by  the  white  people,  was  west  of  the  Mississippi  and 
the  Missouri  rivers.  While  the  tribes  followed  the  buffalo,  in 
their  tribal  hunts,  as  far  west  as  the  foothills  of  the  Rocky  moun¬ 
tains,  their  villages  were  located  in  the  rolling  country  near  the 
rivers  mentioned.  The  tribes  were  hunters,  and  depended  upon 
the  game  for  food,  and  on  pelts  for  clothing;  but  they  also  culti¬ 
vated  the  maize,  and  raised  beans,  melons,  and  other  vegetables 
with  which  they  varied  their  diet.  Their  traditions  all  refer  to 
their  having  migrated  from  the  eastward,  and  considerable  evi¬ 
dence  has  been  obtained  which  bears  out  these  traditions.  Their 
traditions  also  declare  that  they  were  once  one  people.  Their 
languages  confirm  this  statement,  as  they  have  not  yet  differenti¬ 
ated  so  as  to  be  wholly  unintelligible  to  one  another.  Their 
tribal  organizations  are  similar,  and  give  evidence  of  having 
been  modeled  on  a  common  plan,  which  may  have  been  the  plan 
of  the  parent  organization  from  which  these  tribes  split  off, 
probably  under  circumstances  not  unlike  those  which  brought 
about  the  separation  of  these  cognates  from  one  another. 

The  Omaha  tribe  will  be  taken  to  exemplify  the  tribal  struc¬ 
ture  of  the  group,  while  the  other  tribes  will  be  referred  to  in 
less  detail. 

The  Omaha  word  for  “tribe”  indicates  the  native  view  of 
the  organization.  This  word  is  u-ki'-te.  As  a  verb,  it  means  “to 
fight” ;  as  a  noun,  it  means  “the  tribe.”  It  is  the  only  word  in  the 
language  which  means  the  battling  of  warriors  fighting  for  the 
protection  of  people,  the  conflict  being  of  such  a  character  that 
in  it  honors  could  be  won.  It  would  seem,  from  a  study  of  the 


TRIBAL  STRUCTURE 


2  57 


term,  that  the  word  for  “tribe”  meant  those  who  fought  together 
against  the  incursions  of  outsiders,  in  order  to  maintain  them¬ 
selves  as  a  body.  Around  the  group  of  families  composing  the 
tribe  stood  this  cordon  of  warriors,  who  by  their  valor  made  safe 
the  community  from  outside  enemies.  A  detailed  study  of  the 
duties  of  the  men  of  the  tribe  bears  out  this  interpretation  of  the 
meaning  of  u-ki'-te ,  the  word  for  “tribe”;  that  is,  a  group  of 
people  girded  about  by  those  who  with  their  lives  defended  the 
integrity  of  the  group. 

The  distinctive  name  “Omaha”  is  a  descriptive  term  mean¬ 
ing  “against  the  current,”  or  “up  stream,”  and  is  the  complement 
of  the  name  “Quapaw,”  which  signifies  “with  the  current,”  or 
“down  stream.”  These  names  refer  to  the  accidental  parting  of 
the  two  tribes,  —  an  event  which  could  not  have  taken  place  after 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  as,  early  in  that  century, 
Spanish  adventurers  encountered  the  Quapaw  bearing  this  name, 
which  referred  to  the  manner  in  which  they  became  separated 
from  their  kindred,  the  Omaha.  This  event  must  have  occurred 
some  time  previous  for  the  name  to  have  become  fixed  on  the 
people.  The  names  “Ponka,”  “Osage,”  (a  corrupt  form  of  the 
native  term  W a-zha-zhi) ,  and  “Kansa,”  are  all  old  designations 
which  appear  as  the  names  of  cognate  tribes,  and  also  as  the 
names  of  groups  within  these  tribes.  All  of  the  tribes  are  divided 
into  bands  or  groups,  which  together  go  to  make  up  the  tribe. 
These  groups  bear  a  general  name  which  means  “village.”  This 
name  is  applied  by  the  Omaha  to  all  white  settlements,  —  to  the 
little  towns  which  border  their  reservation  in  Nebraska,  as  well 
as  to  cities  like  Washington  and  Chicago.  Besides  this  general 
name,  each  group  has  a  particular  name.  These  particular 


258  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


names  refer  to  rites,  religious  in  character,  which  are  under  the 
special  charge  of  the  group.  Some  of  these  names  are  tropes, 
and  all  are  more  or  less  metaphorical. 

The  question  arises,  Which  of  the  terms  —  “clan,”  “sept,”  or 
“gens”  —  can  be  best  applied  to  the  ton-wan' -gthon,1  or  village, 
of  the  Omaha  tribe?  The  ton-wan'-gthon  is  a  band  of  kindred 
who  trace  their  descent  through  one  parent  only,  —  the  father; 
but  they  are  not  ruled,  nor  do  they  appear  ever  to  have  been 
ruled,  by  an  hereditary  chieftain.  They  are  not,  therefore,  strict¬ 
ly  speaking,  a  clan.  The  term  “clan”  bearing  the  significance 
suggested  by  Major  Powell  does  not  apply  to  them,  as  they 
acknowledge  only  paternal  descent.  Clan  must  therefore  be 
ruled  out  as  applicable  to  the  Omaha  ton-wan'-gthon.  Nor  will 
sept  do;  for  the  people  do  not  claim  descent  from  a  common 
ancestor,  nor  are  they  under  the  rule  of  an  hereditary  chief. 
Gens  in  some  ways  comes  nearer  to  the  conditions  found  among 
the  Omaha  ton-wan'-gthon ;  but,  unlike  the  Roman  gens, 
the  Omaha  village  does  not  trace  its  descent  from  a  common 
ancestor,  nor  is  the  group  named  after  any  individual.  The 
members  of  the  group,  however,  practise  a  common  religious 
rite,  and  trace  their  descent  through  the  father  only.  Because  of 
these  two  points  of  resemblance,  and  following  the  suggestion 
made  by  the  late  director  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology, 
the  term  “gens”  has  been  applied  to  the  Omaha  ton-wan'-gthon, 
with  the  restriction  that  the  resemblance  to  the  Roman  gens 
ceases  with  the  two  points  of  resemblance  mentioned  above.  In 
this  restricted  sense  the  term  “gens”  is  used  in  this  paper. 

'All  vowels  have  the  continental  sound;  italicized  n  is  nasal,  like  en  in  French; 
italicized  th  has  a  lisping  sound  of  th. 


TRIBAL  STRUCTURE 


259 


The  Omaha  tribe  is  divided  into  two  parts:  five  gentes  be¬ 
long  to  each  part.  This  division  of  the  tribe  into  two  parts  is 
common  to  all  the  cognates,  except  the  Ponka.  The  Ponka  tribe 
did  not  separate  from  the  Omaha  tribe  until  some  time  within 
the  past  two  or  three  hundred  years.  It  is  said  that  the  Ponka 
were  formerly  a  gens  of  the  Omaha  tribe,  and  that,  when  the  sep¬ 
aration  took  place,  the  sub-gentes  of  the  Ponka  gens  became  the 
gentes  of  the  Ponka  tribe.  This  statement,  however,  is  not  defi¬ 
nitely  known.  The  Omaha  speak  of  the  Ponka  as  an  “orphan,” 
because  of  the  fragmentary  condition  of  their  organization  and 
tribal  ceremonies.  Looking  at  the  Ponka  tribe,  after  a  study  of 
the  Omaha,  one  can  detect  the  outlines  of  the  organization,  so 
clearly  defined  in  the  latter  tribe,  reflected  in  the  former,  as 
though  seen  in  a  shattered  mirror. 

The  Omaha  camped  in  a  circle,  as  did  the  other  cognates, 
when  they  camped  in  a  ceremonial  order.  This  method  of  camp¬ 
ing  as  well  as  the  circle  thus  formed  was  called  Hu  -thu-ga,  — -  a 
name  common  to  some  of  the  cognates.  Its  opening  was  toward 
the  east.  Only  when  on  the  annual  tribal  hunt  did  the  Omaha 
tribe  camp  in  this  manner.  When  the  people  were  at  home  in 
their  village,  this  order  was  not  maintained.  When  the  tribal 
rites  took  place,  the  Hu'-thu-ga  was  always  actually  oriented:  at 
other  times  the  opening  was  in  the  direction  toward  which  the 
people  were  moving  —  but  the  opening  was  always  symbolically 
toward  the  east.  This  was  effected  by  turning  the  tribal  circle  as 
on  a  hinge  placed  at  the  side  opposite  the  opening,  so  that,  if  the 
opening  chanced  to  be  to  the  west,  when  one  entered  the  circle,  he 
would  find  the  five  gentes  whose  place  was  on  the  north  half  of 
the  circle  when  the  opening  faced  the  east  still  on  the  north,  just 


26o  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

as  if  the  opening  was  actually  at  the  east.  This  interesting  fact 
shows  how  fixed  in  the  minds  of  the  people  was  the  order  of  the 
oriented  Hu'-thu-ga,  so  that,  when  pitching  their  tents  on  the 
wide  prairie,  the  order  of  the  Hu'-thu-ga  was  always  as  though 
the  east  was  before  the  opening  in  the  line  of  tents. 

Such  persistence  in  an  order  must  take  its  rise  from  some 
equally  persistent  ideas  —  ideas  that  will  probably  be  found  to 
be  fundamental  to  the  organization  of  the  tribe.  The  organi¬ 
zation  of  the  Omaha  tribe,  upon  close  study,  is  found  to  rest  upon 
certain  religious  ideas  which  seem  to  lie  at  the  root  of  their 
beliefs  and  customs.  These  ideas  refer  to  the  conception  of  how 
the  visible  universe  came  into  being,  and  how  it  is  maintained. 

The  primary  belief  of  the  Omaha,  which  is  shared  by  all  its 
cognates,  seems  to  be  that  an  invisible,  continuous  life  permeates 
all  things,  seen  and  unseen.  One  of  the  primal  manifestations  of 
this  life  is  movement:  all  motion  or  action,  whether  of  mind  or 
body,  is  because  of  this  permeating,  invisible  life.  Another  is 
permanency  of  structure  and  form,  as  seen  in  the  physical  fea¬ 
tures  of  the  landscape  —  mountains,  plains,  rivers,  lakes,  etc. 
Such  forms  were  the  outward  manifestation  of  this  invisible  life 
and  power.  But  the  invisible  power  had  a  psychical  aspect  as 
well  as  a  physical  side.  The  former  was  conceived  of  as  similar 
to  the  will-power  of  which  man  was  conscious  within  himself, 
and  by  which  he  brought  things  to  pass,  set  things  in  motion,  and 
determined  his  own  actions.  Moreover,  because  of  this  mysteri¬ 
ous  and  continuous  life  which  ran  through  every  thing,  all  things 
were  related  to  each  other  and  to  man,  —  the  seen  to  the  unseen, 
the  dead  to  the  living,  a  fragment  of  any  thing  to  its  entirety. 
This  union  of  life,  and  power  to  bring  to  pass,  the  Omaha  called 


TRIBAL  STRUCTURE 


261 


“Wa-kow'-da.”  The  word  does  not  denote  “a  great  spirit,”  and 
while  it  is  somewhat  of  a  vague  entity,  yet  there  is  an  anthropo¬ 
morphic  coloring  to  its  conception.  This  is  shown  in  the  prayers 
offered  and  the  appeals  made  for  compassion  and  help,  and 
in  the  ethical  quality  attributed  to  certain  natural  phenomena,  as 
well  as  in  the  approval  by  Wa-korc'-da  of  the  practice  of  certain 
virtues  by  man,  as  truth-telling,  justice,  faithfulness  to  friends. 

Anthropomorphism  was  a  controlling  factor  in  the  Omaha 
mind  which  caused  him  to  project  human  conditions  upon 
nature.  He  everywhere  recognized  the  operation  of  male  and 
female  forces.  The  Above  was  masculine,  the  Below  was  femi¬ 
nine:  the  sky,  therefore,  was  father;  the  earth,  mother.  The 
heavenly  bodies  partook  of  sex,  —  the  sun  was  masculine,  the 
moon  feminine;  so  the  day  was  male,  the  night  female.  The 
union  of  these  two  was  regarded  as  necessary  in  the  perpetu¬ 
ation  of  all  living  forms.  They  were  not  only  necessary  to 
the  continuance  of  man’s  life,  but  they  secured  the  maintenance 
of  his  food-supply.  This  order  or  method  for  the  perpetua¬ 
tion  of  life  in  all  its  forms  was  believed  to  have  been  arranged 
by  Wa-kon'-da,  and  man  had  to  obey  it,  if  he  was  to  live.  To 
keep  the  belief  in  this  order  ever  present  and  alive  in  the  minds 
of  the  people,  it  was  symbolized  in  religious  rites,  in  social 
usages,  and  in  the  tribal  organization.  Looking  at  the  Omaha 
tribe  in  the  light  of  these  beliefs  and  ideas  as  to  their  enforce¬ 
ment  upon  the  attention  of  the  people,  we  find  that  the  two 
divisions  of  the  tribe  represented  the  dual  cosmic  forces;  one 
representing  the  sky-people,  the  other  the  earth-people.  The 
north  half  (turned  as  when  the  opening  of  the  Hu'-thu-ga  was 
toward  the  east)  was  called  the  “In-shta'-/Aun-da,”  a  metaphoric 


262 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


term  which  may  be  roughly  translated  as  “the  flashing  eye,”  and 
which  referred  to  the  phenomenon  of  the  lightning.  This  was 
the  general  denomination  of  the  division  representing  the  sky- 
people.  The  southern  half  of  the  Hu'-thu-ga  was  called  the 
“Horc'-ga  she-nu”  (“the  Hon-ga  people”).  Hozz-ga  means 
“leader,”  and  is  a  term  that  occurs  in  all  the  cognates,  and  refers 
to  the  gens,  or  group  of  gentes,  having  charge  of  the  material 
welfare  of  the  people. 

Each  of  the  five  gentes  which  made  up  the  northern  half  of 
the  Hu'-thu-ga,  and  also  of  the  five  which  made  up  the  southern 
half  (always  speaking  as  when  the  opening  is  oriented),  had  its 
designation,  its  rites,  its  place,  its  set  of  personal  names.  These 
two  divisions  of  the  tribe  were  not  phratries;  they  were  not  based 
on  ties  of  blood  or  a  common  rite,  but  on  mythic  ideas  concerning 
the  creation  and  the  means  by  which  life  must  be  continued  on 
the  earth.  Myths  relate  that  human  beings  were  born  of  a  union 
between  the  sky-people  and  the  earth-people;  and  in  accordance 
with  a  general  belief  that  the  creation  of  any  natural  form,  or 
institution,  or  society,  must  be  ceremonially  rehearsed  in  order 
to  insure  its  continuance,  so  the  union  of  the  sky-people  and  the 
earth-people  was  conceived  to  be  necessary  to  the  existence  of 
the  tribe,  and  we  find  this  idea  fundamental  to  its  structure. 

There  was  a  teaching  or  explanation  preserved  among  the 
old  men  of  the  tribe,  which  said  that  the  division  of  the  tribe 
into  the  In-shtaM/zuw-da  and  Ho«'-ga  she-nu  was  for  marital 
purposes,  —  an  explanation  which  bears  out  the  mythic  symbol¬ 
ism  of  these  two  divisions. 

It  is  possible  that  this  symbolic  arrangement  may  throw 
light  on  the  force  which  made  possible  the  artificial  practice  of 


TRIBAL  STRUCTURE 


263 


exogamy;  and  in  this  connection  it  is  an  interesting  fact,  that, 
of  the  marriages  in  existence  twenty-five  years  ago,  a  good  ma¬ 
jority  represented  a  union  between  members  of  gentes  belonging 
to  the  two  divisions  rather  than  between  members  of  gentes 
which  belonged  to  but  one  of  the  divisions.  Amid  all  the 
changes  that  have  taken  place  involving  the  loss  of  ceremonies 
and  rites,  exogamy  is  the  one  ancient  custom  that  is  still  faithfully 
observed  in  the  tribe. 

In  the  government  of  the  tribe,  two  tribal  pipes  were  used, 
representing  the  dual  forces  denoted  in  the  two  divisions.  There 
were  also  two  principal  chiefs  within  the  governing  Council  of 
Seven,  who  also  represented  the  dual  character  of  the  tribe. 

Each  gens  in  the  tribe  had  its  rite  or  rites,  of  which  it  was 
the  special  custodian;  and  the  keeper  or  priest  belonged  to  the 
gens  having  the  rite  in  charge.  In  these  different  rites  there  was 
always  some  symbol  —  generally  an  animal  form  —  which  oc¬ 
cupied  a  prominent  place,  and  stood  for  the  leading  idea  in  the 
rite.  This  animal,  as  the  symbol  of  the  rite,  became  taboo  to 
those  who  practised  the  rite.  Some  part  of  the  animal  that  was 
a  symbol  in  the  rite  of  a  gens  might  not  be  touched  or  eaten  by 
members  of  the  gens,  as  the  animal  because  of  its  symbolism 
was  held  sacred.  All  these  rites  were  spoken  of  as  Ni'-ki-e,  a 
composite  word  made  up  of  ni'-ki  (from  ni'-ka-shi-ga ,  “people”) 
and  i'-e  (“words”  or  “speech”).  From  the  same  word  ni' -ka- 
shi-ga  is  derived  the  word  ni'-ka-ga-hi  (“chief”),  ni-ka ,  part  of 
the  word,  meaning  “people,”  ga'hi  “thrown  upon”;  the  word 
meaning  literally,  “he  upon  whom  the  people  are  thrown,  or  who 
carries  the  people.”  Ni'-ki-e ,  therefore,  signifies  the  words  or 


264  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


utterances  of  the  people,  or  of  the  chief,  who  is  the  voice  of  the 
people. 

Sometimes,  when  a  person  was  asked  by  a  stranger  who  was 
not  familiar  with  the  names  of  the  gentes,  to  what  gens  he 
belonged,  he  would  reply  by  mentioning  the  symbol  of  the 
religious  rite  of  his  gens,  the  taboo.  So,  he  might  say,  “I  am  a 
buffalo  person”  or  an  “elk  person”;  but  in  no  case  would  the 
reply  be  understood  as  meaning  that  the  man  thought  of  himself 
as  a  buffalo  or  an  elk,  or  as  descended  from  one.  It  would  be 
recognized  that  to  his  gens  that  animal  was  a  symbol  in  the  rite 
which  was  in  charge  of  the  man’s  gens.  Each  gens  had  its  set 
of  Ni'-ki-e  names,  all  of  which  referred  to  the  Ni'-ki-e  rite  of 
the  gens.  These  names  were  bestowed  upon  the  child  after  it 
was  able  to  walk  alone  freely  and  steadily,  and  in  a  ceremony 
in  which  the  cosmic  forces  were  recognized.  The  ceremony 
during  which  the  child  received  its  gentile  name  was  practically 
the  same  in  all  the  cognates.  The  Omaha  ritual  has  been  secured 
in  nearly  complete  form,  and  presents  many  interesting  and 
suggestive  phases  of  Omaha  beliefs  —  phases  which  throw  light 
on  the  fundamental  ideas  of  the  tribal  organization.  After  the 
child  had  been  given  its  Ni'-ki-e  name,  his  hair  was  cut  to  sym¬ 
bolize  the  animal  form  which  was  the  peculiar  symbol  in  the 
religious  rites  of  his  gens. 

An  interesting  problem  as  yet  unsolved  is  to  ascertain  the 
psychical  relation  between  the  animals  which  form  so  dramatic 
a  part  of  the  rites  of  the  gentes,  —  which  furnish  the  taboos, 
are  referred  to  in  the  personal  names,  are  typified  in  the  cut  of 
the  children’s  hair,  —  and  the  ethical  teachings  and  religious 
consolation  received  by  the  people  in  the  practice  of  these  rites. 


TRIBAL  STRUCTURE 


265 


That  an  ethical  stimulus  and  a  religious  sustaining  force  exist 
for  the  Omaha  and  cognate  tribes  in  the  ceremonies  in  which 
these  animals  bear  so  important  a  part,  cannot  be  questioned; 
but  how  these  ceremonies  and  animals  appeal  to  man,  how  it 
comes  about  that  they  can  so  appeal,  is  a  problem  which  will 
one  day  be  solved,  and  its  solution  will  help  to  unravel  many 
difficult  questions  touching  the  religions  of  mankind. 

The  reason  why  the  Omaha  and  cognate  tribes  camped  in 
a  circle  has  been  stated  to  be  in  order  to  have  a  safe  place  into 
which  to  drive  their  ponies  at  night,  and  that  this  arrangement 
enabled  the  people  to  defend  themselves  better  against  enemies 
than  any  other  form  of  camping;  but  the  Hu'-thu-ga  was  some¬ 
thing  more  than  a  mere  camp  arranged  for  the  safety  of  ponies. 
It  was  an  order  that  probably  antedated  the  possession  of  the 
horse.  It  was  an  order  which  permitted  each  gens  to  have  its 
place  in  relation  to  its  rites,  —  rites  which  had  a  share  in  promot¬ 
ing  the  tribal  welfare.  All  the  rites  of  the  gentes  on  the  north 
side  had  to  do  with  the  creative  forces  and  with  the  securing  of 
supernatural  aid.  These  rites  enforced  the  belief  that  the  life 
and  death  of  each  person  were  in  the  keeping  of  a  power  greater 
than  man,  —  a  power  that  could  punish  an  offender,  —  the  only 
power  that  could  give  authority  to  the  words  and  acts  of  the 
governing  Council  of  Seven.  Such  were  the  rites  and  duties 
belonging  to  the  division  which  represented  the  sky-people. 

The  rites  and  duties  belonging  to  the  opposite  side,  the 
earth-people,  all  had  a  direct  relation  to  the  physical  welfare  of 
the  tribe.  These  rites  pertained  to  the  warrior  as  the  protector 
of  the  tribe,  to  the  hunter  as  the  provider  for  the  family,  and  to 
the  maintenance  of  social  order.  The  control  of  war,  the  quest 


266 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


of  food,  and  the  direction  of  the  governing  council,  were  all 
vested  in  the  gentes  which  made  up  the  south  side  of  the  Hu'- 
thu-ga. 

The  duality  of  the  tribe  was  also  represented  in  the  only 
form  by  which  an  orator  could  address  the  tribe.  He  could  not 
say,  “Ho!  Omaha!”  but  must  say,  “Ho!  Iw-shta'-/Auw-da,  How'- 
ga-she-nu,  ti-a-g/Aow  ka  how!”  Iw-shta'-/Aww-da  and  How'-ga- 
she-nu  were  the  names  of  the  two  divisions  of  the  Hu'-thu-ga; 
ti-a-g/Aow  ka  how  means  “both  sides  of  the  house.”  This  form  of 
address  emphasizes  the  meaning  of  the  term  Hu'-thu-ga  as  given 
by  the  old  men,  who  said  that  “the  word  carried  the  idea  of  a 
dwelling.”  An  old  Omaha,  speaking  of  the  opening  of  the 
Hu'-thu-ga  at  the  east,  said:  “It  represents  the  door  of  a 
dwelling.  Through  it  the  people  go  forth  in  quest  of  game, 
and  through  it  they  return  with  their  supply  of  food,  even  as  one 
enters  the  door  of  one’s  own  home.  The  warriors  pass  hence  to 
defend  the  tribe  from  its  foes,  and  here  they  are  welcomed  when 
they  come  back  victorious.” 

The  Hu'-thu-ga,  regarded  as  the  dwelling  of  the  entire 
tribe,  presented  the  type  that  was  to  be  reproduced  in  the  dwell¬ 
ing  of  each  member  of  the  tribe,  wherein  were  to  be  united  the 
masculine  and  feminine  forces,  drawn  from  two  distinct  groups 
or  regions,  as  symbolized  in  the  Hu'-thu-ga  by  the  union  of 
the  earth  and  sky  people.  The  regulation  of  mating  by  exogamy 
seems  to  have  been  demanded  in  order  to  typify  what  was  be¬ 
lieved  to  be  a  cosmic  regulation.  By  this  splitting  of  the 
family,  it  became  possible  to  interweave  the  split  parts  so  as  to 
bind  together  the  different  gentes  composing  the  tribe  by  a 
natural  tie  of  kinship.  This  natural  tie  of  kinship  that  bound 


TRIBAL  STRUCTURE 


26  7 


together  the  gentes  of  the  Omaha  tribe  came  through  the  mother 
in  the  tribe.  Descent  in  the  gens  was  traced  only  through  the 
father:  the  father  held  the  gens  together,  distinct  from  every 
other  gens.  Through  the  father,  the  child  inherited  his  name, 
his  place,  his  share  in  the  rites  of  his  gens;  but  it  was  through 
his  mother  that  his  kinship  was  extended  beyond  his  birth  gens, 
and  he  thus  became  conscious  of  being  a  part  of  a  great  kinship 
community. 

Peabody  Museum,  Harvard  University 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts 


THE  DATES  AND  NUMBERS  OF  PAGES  24  AND  46 
TO  50  OF  THE  DRESDEN  CODEX 


BY 

Charles  P.  Bowditch 

IN  order  to  discuss  this  subject  intelligently,  I  shall  be  obliged 
to  repeat  some  of  the  elementary  facts  of  Maya  study,  assum¬ 
ing  however  that  the  reader  is  acquainted  with  the  Dresden 
Codex  and  with  the  works  of  Forstemann,  Seler,  and  others. 

The  very  close  connection  which  exists  between  page  24 
and  pages  46-50,  and  which  will  appear  from  what  follows,  is 
strong  evidence  that  there  never  was  a  break  in  the  Dresden 
Codex.  Dr  Forstemann,  however,  believed  that  there  was  such 
a  break  when  he  wrote  in  1880  1  and  in  1886, 2  and  he  apparently 
still  held  this  belief  in  1901,  if  I  understand  him  rightly,3  al¬ 
though  he  then  discarded  the  idea  of  the  two  parts  being  inde¬ 
pendent  manuscripts. 

The  chief  reasons  which  Dr  Forstemann  advanced  for  his 
opinion  that  the  two  parts  of  the  Codex  were  never  joined  to¬ 
gether,  are 

1.  That  there  was  a  separation  between  them  when  Aglio, 
who  copied  the  Codex  for  Lord  Kingsborough’s  work,  under¬ 
took  his  task. 

1  Die  Maya/iandsc/irift  der  Koniglichen  offentlichen  Bibliothek  zu  Dresden,  pp.  4  and 
5,  Leipzig,  1880. 

2  Erlduterungen  zur  Mayahandschrift  der  Koniglichen  offentlichen  Bibliothek  zu  Dres¬ 
den,  p.  1,  Dresden,  1886. 

3  Commentar  zur  Mayahandschrift  der  Koniglichen  offentlichen  Bibliothek  zu  Dres¬ 
den,  p.  47,  Dresden,  1901. 


DRESDEN  CODEX  269 

2.  That  the  two  parts  of  the  Codex  treat  of  different 
subjects  and  that  their  pages  are  differently  divided. 

I  do  not  think  that  these  reasons  are  sufficient,  since  also 
pages  1-2  (and  their  reverses  44-45)  were  separated  from  the  rest 
of  the  first  part,  either  being  torn  apart  intentionally  or  being 
separated  by  wear,  and  they  were  actually  placed  in  a  wrong 
position  in  the  first  edition  of  the  reproduction  of  the  Codex: 
and  yet  there  is  no  question  that  these  pages  belong  in  the  places 
now  assigned  to  them.  It  is  therefore  very  possible  that  the 
separation  of  the  parts  of  the  Codex  between  pages  24  and  46 
was  caused  in  the  same  way.  Indeed,  Dr  Forstemann  suggests 
this  possibility,  and  even  that  Aglio  tore  them  apart  so  as  to 
work  more  easily  with  the  pages.  Moreover  pages  24  and  46-50 
treat,  not  of  different  subjects,  but  of  identically  the  same  subject 
(as  shown  by  Dr  Forstemann  himself)  and  therefore  Dr 
Forstemann’s  second  reason  does  not  apply  to  them.  And,  more 
than  this,  if  the  pages  should  be  separated  on  account  of 
different  subjects  or  of  different  spacing  of  the  leaves,  then 
a  division  should  take  place  between  pages  23  and  24;  but 
this  is  absolutely  impossible,  as  the  reverses,  or  pages  25-26,  are 
devoted  to  the  very  same  subject — the  new  year  ceremonies. 

It  is  very  probable  that  the  two  parts  of  the  Codex  should 
never  have  been  separated  and  that  pages  1-24  are  followed  by 
pages  46-60,  and  that  then  the  opposite  side  is  to  be  read,  run¬ 
ning  from  61-74,  followed  by  25-45.  But  as  many  articles  have 
been  written  upon  the  Codex  with  its  present  numbering,  it 
would  be  wise  not  to  make  any  change,  but  merely  to  remember 
that  the  manuscript  was  originally  in  all  probability  in  one 
piece. 


2JO 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Taking  up  pages  46-50,  we  find,  as  has  been  very  clearly 
shown  by  Dr  Forstemann,  that  on  each  page  a  period  of  1.11.4. 
(584)  days  is  shown  —  the  time  that  elapses  in  a  synodical  revo¬ 
lution  of  Venus1  (the  exact  time  being  583.92  days).  On  the 
five  pages,  therefore,  five  such  revolutions  are  shown,  equal  to 
8.2.0.  (2920  days,  or  8  years  of  1.0.5.  (365)  days  each).  This 
period  is  shown  in  the  black  line  of  numbers  running  through 
the  centres  of  the  pages,  each  black  number  being  equal  to  the 
sum  of  the  preceding  black  number  and  the  red  number  found 
beneath  this  sum  at  the  bottom  of  the  page.  These  red  numbers 
at  the  bottom  of  the  page  are  always  the  same  on  all  five  pages; 
namely,  11.16.  (236),  4.10.  (90),  12.10.  (250),  and  8.  These 
numbers  divide  the  revolution  into  four  parts,  the  longer  two  of 
which  have  been  supposed  to  represent  the  periods  when  the 
planet  is  visible,  and  the  shorter  two  the  periods  of  invisibility 
at  the  superior  and  inferior  conjunction  respectively. 

The  upper  thirteen  rows  are  filled  with  day  signs,  each  sign 
in  each  row  being  distant  from  the  preceding  sign  by  the  number 
of  days  recorded  in  the  red  numbers  at  the  bottom  of  the  page 
and  below  the  day  reckoned  to.2  When  the  end  of  the  row  is 
reached  on  page  50,  the  day  in  the  first  place  on  the  next  row  on 
page  46  is  distant  from  the  last  day  in  the  preceding  row  by  the 
number  of  the  days  given  in  the  red  number  at  the  left-hand 
lower  corner  of  page  46.  And  this  is  also  true  when  we  reach 

1  As  the  synodical  revolutions  of  Venus  are  the  only  revolutions  of  Venus  treated  of 
in  this  article,  I  shall  not  hereafter  repeat  the  word  “synodical”,  in  speaking  of  them. 

2  The  words  “distant  from”  or  “distance  from”  are  used  to  denote  the  number  of  days 
from  one  day  to  another,  not  counting  the  day  reckoned  from,  but  counting  the  day 
reckoned  to;  thus  the  “distance  from”  i  Kan  to  6  Muluc  is  5  days.  While  “interval” 
between  two  days  means  that  neither  day  is  counted;  thus  the  “interval”  between  these 
two  days  is  4. 


DRESDEN  CODEX 


271 

the  end  of  the  whole  series,  for  the  first  day  of  the  first  row  on 
page  46  (though  obliterated)  can  be  proved  by  counting  back¬ 
ward  to  be  3  Cib,  which  is  distant  from  the  last  day  I  Ahau 
of  the  thirteenth  row  on  page  50  by  the  red  number  236  found 
in  the  left-hand  lower  corner  of  page  46.  Thus  the  series  re¬ 
enters  into  itself. 

If  then  the  five  pages,  reading  from  left  to  right,  show  a 
period  of  five  Venus  revolutions,  or  8  years,  reading  across  one 
row  of  day  signs,  the  whole  thirteen  rows  show  13x5  =  65 
Venus  revolutions  of  584  days,  or  104  years  of  365  days. 

The  calculations  up  to  this  point  are  exact,  but  one  or  two 
apparent  errors  occur  in  the  month  days,  of  which  I  shall  now 
speak. 

On  the  line  immediately  below  the  day  signs  is  a  row  of 
month  signs,  each  accompanied  by  its  number.  The  first  of 
these  on  page  46  is  the  month  Yaxkin,  and  the  number,  which 
is  erased,  can  be  found  to  have  been  4,  if  the  rule  is  followed 
here  which  is  followed  in  57  out  of  60  of  the  other  month  dates. 
Starting  then  with  4  Yaxkin,  each  month  date  is  distant  from 
the  preceding  month  date  by  the  red  number  which  is  found  at 
the  bottom  of  the  page  under  the  date  reckoned  to.  And  the 
first  day  of  the  month  series,  4  Yaxkin,  is  distant  from  the  last 
day  of  the  same  series,  13  Mac,  by  11.16.  (236)  the  first  number 
in  red  at  the  bottom  of  page  46;  that  is,  the  month  series  re¬ 
enters  into  itself  as  the  rows  of  day  signs  run  into  each  other, 
making  the  whole  day  and  month  series  a  continuous  one. 

Immediately  below  the  black  numbers  in  the  centres  of  the 
pages  is  a  second  row  of  month  signs,  each  accompanied  by  its 
number.  The  first  four  dates  are  8  Zac,  18  Muan,  4  Yax,  12 


272 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Yax,  the  black  numbers  being  very  clear.  The  red  numbers 
are  1 1.16.,  4.10.,  12.10.,  and  8,  as  has  already  been  said.  Now,  8 
Zac  +  4-io.=  18  Muan;  but  18  Muan  +  12.10  =  3  Yax,  and 
not  4  Yax;  whereas  4  Yax  +  8.=  12  Yax.  There  is  evidently  some 
error  here,  and  we  find  that  the  last  date  of  this  row  on  page  50 
is  clearly  18  Kayab.  If  this  row  re-enters  into  itself,  the  first 
date  would  be  9  Zac,  since  18  Kayab  +  11.16  =  9  Zac,  and  9 
Zac +  4.10.=  19  Muan.  If  then  we  read  9  Zac  and  19  Muan 
instead  of  8  Zac  and  18  Muan,  the  whole  row  runs  on  regularly, 
as  did  the  last  one.  It  is  very  dangerous  to  assume  that  mistakes 
have  been  made  in  the  Codex,  but  this  seems  to  be  a  case  where 
the  scribe  was  in  error.  Still  it  is  not  impossible  that  the  change 
from  9  Zac  to  8  Zac  and  from  19  Muan  to  18  Muan  was  made 
intentionally.  If  this  is  so,  however,  it  is  hard  to  say  why  all  the 
dates  following  the  second  should  be  given  as  if  no  such  change 
had  taken  place.  It  can  hardly  be  for  the  purpose  of  calling 
attention  to  intercalary  days,  since  two  days,  and  not  one,  are 
needed  in  a  period  of  eight  years. 

Immediately  over  the  red  numbers  at  the  bottom  of  each 
page  is  a  third  row  of  month  dates,  each  with  its  number  attached. 
Each  of  these  dates  is  distant  from  the  preceding  one  by  a  num¬ 
ber  of  days  equal  to  the  red  number  at  the  bottom  of  the  page 
below  the  date  reckoned  to,  and  the  series  re-enters  into  itself 
as  did  the  first  series.  The  first  date  on  page  50  should  be  o  Yax 
or  20  Xul,  according  as  the  months  begin  with  o  or  1 ;  but  as 
this  date  has  been  treated  of  by  me  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  Was 
the  Beginning  Day  of  the  Maya  Month  Numbered  Zero  (or 
Twenty)  or  One ?  I  shall  not  dwell  on  it  here. 

Practically  then,  we  have  here  in  the  lower  red  numbers, 


DRESDEN  CODEX 


273 


certain  numbers  which  added  together  give  1.11.4.  (584)  on 
each  of  the  five  pages  and  each  number  marks  the  distance, 

1.  From  one  day  sign  in  each  of  the  first  thirteen  rows  to 
the  next  one  in  the  same  row. 

2.  From  one  month  date  in  each  of  the  three  rows  of  month 
dates  to  the  next  one  in  the  same  row. 

3.  From  one  black  number  in  the  centres  of  the  pages  to 
the  next  black  number. 

We  have  here  in  the  centres  of  the  pages  a  series  of  black 
numbers,  which  tell  the  distance  of  each  column  of  day  signs  or 
month  dates  from  the  beginning,  and  reach  at  the  end  of  page 
50  the  period  of  8.2.0.  or  2920  days,  equal  to  5  Venus  revolu¬ 
tions  or  8  years  of  365  days  each.  We  have  13  rows  of  day  signs 
which  form  a  single  series  and  which  carry  forward  the  previous 
series  of  black  numbers  thirteen  times,  thus  recording  65  Venus 
revolutions  or  104  years.  We  have  3  rows  of  month  dates,  each 
containing  a  series  of  dates  re-entering  into  itself,  which  are  to 
be  used  in  turn  with  each  row  of  day  signs  above  them. 

But  there  is  apparently  no  direct  connection  stated  on  pages 
46  to  50  between  the  different  rows  of  month  dates.  We  find 
that  the  dates  reckoned  from  (and  therefore  the  last  date  of 
each  on  page  30,  as  each  row  re-enters  into  itself)  are  as  follows: 

1st  row,  1  Ahau  13  Mac  @  1 

2d  row,  1  Ahau  18  Kayab  (T) 

3d  row,  1  Ahau  3  Xul  (f§) 

while  the  first  days  of  each  series  are  the  days  following  these,  or 

1  The  numbers  surrounded  by  a  circle,  which  follow  a  date,  show  the  number  of  the 
year  as  given  in  the  Archaic  Annual  Calendar  of  J.  T.  Goodman. 


274 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


i st  row,  2  Ymix  14  Mac  @ 

2d  row,  2  Ymix  19  Kayab  ® 

3d  row,  2  Ymix  4  Xul  (28) 

It  will  now  be  necessary  to  consider  page  24. 

In  Table  I,  I  give  a  reproduction  in  print  of  the  numeri¬ 
cal  part  of  page  24.  The  page  is  in  general  very  clear,  the  chief 
exceptions  being  at  the  top  and  in  the  two  lower  corners.  The 
order  of  reading  the  numerals  is  from  the  right  lower  corner 
to  the  left,  for  four  terms,  then  for  four  terms  from  right  to  left 
on  the  next  row  above,  and  in  the  same  manner  on  the  third  row 
from  the  bottom.  The  term  G  5  is  8.2.0.,  9  Ahau.  This  is  the 
same  number  as  the  last  black  number  in  the  centre  of  page  50. 
The  day  from  which  8.2.0.  is  counted  must  be  1  Ahau,  and  the 
first  day  of  the  series  must  be  2  Ymix.  But  8.2.0  =  2920  days 
=  8  years  of  365  days  =  5  Venus  revolutions  of  584  days,  exactly 
the  term  set  out  in  detail  on  pages  46-50,  and  9  Ahau  is  the  day 
sign  we  find  by  calculation  to  be  the  last  day  sign  of  the  first  row 
of  page  50.  The  second  term,  F  5,  is  16.4.0.,  4  Ahau,  which  is 
distant  from  the  first  term  by  the  number  8.2.0.,  and  which  is 
the  last  day  sign  of  the  second  row  of  page  50.  This  difference 
appears  also  between  the  2d  and  3d  terms,  the  5th  and  6th,  the 
6th  and  7th,  the  7th  and  8th,  the  8th  and  9th,  the  9th  and  10th, 
the  10th  and  nth,  and  the  nth  and  12th.  In  fact  the  only  place 
in  rows  3,  4,  and  5,  where  this  difference  does  not  occur  is  be¬ 
tween  the  3d  and  4th,  and  between  the  4th  and  5th  terms;  and 
here  the  distance  between  the  3d  and  5th  (that  is  the  space  of 
two  normal  terms)  is  twice  8.2.0.  The  4th  term  as  given  is 
7.17.0.  from  the  3rd,  and  the  5th  is  8.5.0.  from  the  4th. 


DRESDEN  CODEX 


27s 


Table  I 


A 

B 

c 

D 

E 

F 

G 

[i] 

[i] 

[15] 

[10] 

[5]1 

i 

[16] 

[10] 

[5] 

6 

16 

8 

H 

0 

0 

0 

o 

i  Ahau 

1  Ahau 

1  Ahau 

1  Ahau 

i 

9 

4 

1 

5 

11 

12 

5 

14 

4 

7 

8 

5 

o 

0 

0 

0 

i  Ahau 

1  Ahau 

1  Ahau 

1  Ahau 

4 

4 

4 

3 

17 

9 

1 

13 

6 

4 

2 

0 

o 

0 

0 

0 

6  Ahau 

1 1  Ahau 

3  Ahau 

8  Ahau 

9 

9 

3 

2 

2 

2 

9 

9 

4 

16 

8 

0 

16 

9 

16 

H 

12 

10 

o 

0 

0 

0 

6 

2 

o 

16 

13  Ahau 

5  Ahau 

10  Ahau 

2  Ahau 

1 

1 

16 

8 

O 

o 

o 

12 

4 

5 

6 

4 

2 

4  Ahau 

i  Ahau 

i  Ahau 

0 

0 

O 

0 

8  Cumhu 

1 8  Kayab 

18  Uo 

7  Ahau 

12  Ahau 

4  Ahau 

8  Ahau  2 

1  The  numbers 

in  brackets 

are  erased  by  wearing  or  by  injury. 

2  This  date  appears  to  be  8  Ahau,  but  there  is  a 

faint  outline  of  a  fourth  dot  above 

other  three  dots. 


276  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


If,  however,  the  4th  term  were  1.12.8.0.  instead  of  1. 12. 5.0., 
the  differences  would  be  the  normal  sum  between  the  3d  and  4th, 

and  4th  and  5th  terms.  Three  dots  over  the  -  of  the  uinal 

number  would  bring  everything  into  harmony.  Although  I  am 
not  in  favor  of  assuming  error  on  the  part  of  the  Maya  author, 
this  seems  to  be  a  case  where  it  would  be  safe  to  make  the  change 

from  -  to  especially  as  there  is  ample  space  for  the 

insertion  of  these  dots.  And  this  view  is  upheld  by  reference 
to  the  day  signs  beneath  the  numbers.  These  day  signs  are  regu¬ 
larly  2920  days  apart.  As  2920  is  exactly  divisible  by  20  (the 
number  of  days  in  a  month  or  uinal),  Ahau,  the  day  counted 
from,  reappears  in  each  case.  And  as  2920  divided  by  13  gives 
a  remainder  of  8,  each  day  number  is  8  in  advance  of  the  pre¬ 
ceding  day  number.  Thus  9+8=17.  Strike  out  13  and  we 
have  4  as  the  day  number  of  the  2d  term,  F  5.  So  also  4+8=12, 
the  day  number  of  the  3d  term;  and  12+8=20—13=7,  the  day 
number  of  the  4th  term;  while  7+8=15—13=2,  the  day 
number  of  the  5th  term,  and  so  on  through  the  12th  term  in  D  3. 
Notice  also  that  these  days  reappear  in  the  last  columns  of  days 
on  page  50  as  we  should  expect  them  to.  Thus,  though  the  nu¬ 
merical  part  of  the  4th  term  does  not  have  the  proper  difference 
from  the  preceding  and  succeeding  terms,  yet  the  day  and  its 
number  have  this  difference.  The  numerical  part  of  the  4th 
term  does  not  agree  with  its  day  and  its  number,  and  one  or  the 
other  must  be  wrong.  In  fact  1. 12. 5.0.  (the  number  given) 
counted  from  the  original  date  of  1  Ahau  would  give  12  Ahau, 
while  1.12.8.0.  (which  would  be  8.2.0.  from  term  3)  would  give 
7  Ahau,  the  day  number  found  in  D  5.  This  then  would  seem  to 
be  a  proper  correction  to  make. 


DRESDEN  CODEX 


2  77 


Row  2  has  apparently  no  connection  with  the  difference  of 
2920  and  I  omit  all  discussion  of  this  row  for  the  present. 

Parts  of  all  the  numbers  of  Row  1  are  erased,  but  Dr  Forst- 
emann  has,  without  much  doubt,  given  the  true  numbers. 

In  all  the  terms  of  Row  1  we  find  that  the  day  sign  is  1 
Ahau,  and  this  shows  that  the  numbers  of  these  terms  must  all 
be  multiples  of  260  from  the  first  date  reckoned  from,  which 
is  also  1  Ahau.  The  last  (left  hand)  term  of  Row  3  is  4.17.6.0. 
=  12  times  8.2.0.  and  has  the  day  sign  6  Ahau  below  it.  If  then 
the  same  difference  of  8.2.0.  is  used  between  the  last  term  of 
Row  3  and  the  first  term  of  Row  1,  the  latter  would  be  13  times 
8.2.0.  or  5. 5.8.0.,  1  Ahau.  We  actually  find  —  which,  to  be 
symmetrical,  must  be  8,  then  a  o  and  then  a  1,  the  two  upper 
numbers  and  the  Ahau  being  erased. 

Now  it  is  common  to  find  in  the  long  series  of  numbers,  on 
other  pages,  that  in  the  first  part  of  the  series  one  term  differs 
from  another  by  a  small  difference;  this  is  carried  on  until  a 
higher  term  is  reached,  when  the  higher  term  is  used  as  a  differ¬ 
ence  and  so  on.  Thus  on  page  59,  3.18.  (78)  is  used  as  a  differ¬ 
ence  until  10  X  78  or  2.3.0.  (780)  is  reached,  when  780  is  used 
as  a  difference.  On  pages  71-73,  3.5.  (65)  is  used  as  a  difference, 
until  28X65,  or  5.1.0.  (1820)  is  reached,  when  this  number  is 
used  as  a  difference  in  the  continuation  of  the  series. 

If  then  13  times  8.2.0.  or  5. 5. 8.0.  were  used  as  a  difference 
after  this  sum  is  reached,  we  should  have  for  the  three  following 
terms:  10.10. 16. o. ;  15.16.6.0.  and  1.1.1. 14.0.  Now  we  find  actu¬ 
ally  in  Row  1 :  16.0.,  6.0.  and  1.14.0.  as  the  lower  terms  of  these 
numbers,  and  it  is  therefore  probable  that  the  series  is  continued 
as  given  on  Table  I. 


27B  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  number  5. 5.8.0.,  found  in  G  1  and  used  as  a  difference 
in  reaching  F  1,  E  1  and  D  1,  is  the  high  number  reached  on 
pages  46-50.  It  is  13  X  2920  =  37,960  =  104  years  =  65  Venus 
revolutions  =  2  calendar  rounds  of  52  years  each ;  and  the  high¬ 
est  number  1.1.1.14.0.  is  four  times  as  great  and  =  260  Venus  rev¬ 
olutions  =  416  years  =  151,840  days. 

There  are  also  month  and  day  dates  given  on  page  24.  They 
are  4  Ahau  8  Cumhu,©  1  Ahau  18  Kayab,  ®  1  Ahau  18  Uo  ©. 
Of  these  the  first  two  alone  are  recorded  by  the  long  count. 
Which  date,  if  either,  can  fairly  be  considered  as  the  present 
time,  referring  of  course  to  the  time  at  which  the  original  Codex 
was  written  and  the  calculations  made? 

In  the  lower  part  of  Column  B  we  find  9.9.16.0.0.,  which 
counted  forward  from  4  Ahau  8  Cumhu©  — •  the  date  far  in  the 
past  and  the  zero  point  of  the  great  majority  of  dates  in  the 
inscriptions  and  codices, —  gives  again  the  date  4  Ahau  8  Cum- 
hu  ©,  found  in  Column  A.  In  Column  C  is  the  long  number 
9.9.9.16.0.  and  this  counted  forward  as  above  gives  I  Ahau  18 
Kayab  ©,  found  in  Column  B.  The  date  in  Column  C,  1  Ahau 
18  Uo  (y),1  has  no  long  number  attached  to  it  and  on  this  account  I 
think  cannot  be  considered  as  the  present.  Neither  can  4  Ahau 
8  Cumhu  (7)  be  so  considered,  for  I  think  this  date,  with  its 
long  number,  was  inserted  here  merely  to  show  how  near  the 
then  present  time  1  Ahau  18  Kayab  ©  was  to  the  end  of  the 
great  period  which  is  reached  with  another  4  Ahau  8  Cumhu  (7), 


1  Dr  Forstemann  changes  this  date  to  i  Ahau  18  Zip,  and  on  this  change  founds  a 
great  deal  of  his  discussion  of  this  page.  This  change  is  an  error,  for,  as  will  be  seen,  no 
number  given  on  this  page  leads  to  I  Ahau  x8  Zip;  but  two  numbers  lead  to  i  Ahau  18  Uo. 


DRESDEN  CODEX 


279 


at  the  end  of  9.9.16.0.0.  =  1,366,560  days  =  12  X  312  years  of 
365  days  each  =  2340  Venus  revolutions  —  72  calendar  rounds. 
This  great  period  is  composed  of  many  other  interesting  factors.1 
The  number  of  days  from  1  Ahau  18  Kayab  ®  before  this  great 
period  point  is  reached  is  shown  in  Column  A,  in  the  number 
6.2.0.  This  number  added  to  9.9.9.16.0.  gives  9.9.16.0.0.,  found 
in  Column  B. 

My  opinion  is  that  the  date  9.9.9.16.0.,  1  Ahau  18  Kayab  ® 
is  the  present  with  reference  to  the  time  of  writing  the  Codex, 
and  is  the  date  from  which  the  whole  calculation  starts.  This 
opinion  is  supported  by 

1.  The  fact  that  1  Ahau  18  Kayab  ®  is  the  date  from 


1  It  may  be  well  to  show  here  how  division  may  be  performed  through  subtraction  by 
the  use  of  Maya  tables  such  as  we  find  on  page  24.  Let  the  question  be  to  find  how  many 
Venus  revolutions  of  1.11.4.  (584)  days  are  contained  in  9.14.15.6.0. 

It  has  been  seen  that  the  long  number  9.9.16.0.0. 
equals  12  times  312  solar  years.  As  in  the  Maya  system 
the  solar  is  five-eighths  as  long  as  the  Venus  revolu¬ 
tion,  there  will  be  five-eighths  as  many  Venus  revolutions 
as  there  are  solar  revolutions  in  a  given  number  of  days. 

There  will  be,  then,  in  9.  9.16.0.0.  2340  Venus  rev’ns. 


Subtracting  this  from  the  first  number,  there  remains  4.19.6.0. 

Now  look  over  the  table  of  page  24  and  find  the  next 
smaller  number  to  this  remainder.  This  is  found  in 
D3,  viz:  4.17.6.0.,  which  contains  12X5  Venus  revolutions, 
since  each  term  represents  five  Venus  revolutions,  and 
4.17.6.0.  is  the  twelfth  term.  Subtracting  this  number 

from  the  former  remainder  4.17.6.0.  60  Venus  rev’ns. 


there  remains 

The  last  remainder  contains  one  revolution.  Deducting 
therefore 


2.0.0. 


1.11.4. 


1  Venus  rev’n. 


there  is  left  7  z£ 

or  156  days.  Thus  the  answer  to  the  original  question  is  2340+60+1=2401  Venus  revolu¬ 
tions  and  156  days. 


28o  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


which  the  second  row  of  month  dates  on  pages  46-50  is  reckoned 
and  the  date  with  which  the  row  ends.  It  is  also  the  only  date 
given  on  page  24,  which  begins  one  of  the  month  rows  on  pages 
46-50. 

2.  The  fact  that  18  Kayab  coincides  with  our  June  19,  if 
Landa  is  right  in  saying  that  the  beginning  of  the  Maya  year 
coincided  with  July  16.  Now,  June  19  is  almost  exactly  the 
summer  solstice,  and  is  a  very  natural  date  with  which  to  begin 
an  astronomical  calculation. 

3.  The  fact  that  the  numbers  in  Row  2  of  page  24,  except 
that  of  G  2,  have  a  meaning  when  calculated  from  1  Ahau  18 
Kayab  (T),  but  have  none,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  if  calculated  from 
any  other  date. 

4.  The  row  of  month  dates  on  pages  46-50,  which  counts 
from  the  date,  is  given  in  immediate  proximity  to  the  black 
numbers  which  enumerate  the  number  of  days  which  have  passed 
from  the  beginning  of  the  calculation. 

5.  The  glyphs  which,  in  Dr  Forstemann’s  opinion,  repre¬ 
sent  the  gods  presiding  over  each  division  of  the  Venus  revo¬ 
lution,  are  placed,  one  set  above  and  one  set  below  the  row 
of  month  dates  which  have  1  Ahau  18  Kayab  @  as  their  starting 
point. 

We  will  then  start  with  1  Ahau  18  Kayab.  (T),  and  take  up 
the  discussion  of  Row  2.  In  E  2  we  find  the  number  9.1 1.7.0. 
(68,900).  This  is  equal  to  three  calendar  rounds  plus  11,960,  the 
latter  being  the  number  to  which  the  long  series  on  pages  51-58 
leads  up.  Counting  forward  9.1 1.7.0.  from  9.9.9.16.0.,  1  Ahau 
18  Kayab  Q,  we  reach  9. 19. 1.5.0.,  1  Ahau  13  Mac  (34),  the 
very  date  from  which  the  first  row  of  month  dates  on  pages  46-50 


DRESDEN  CODEX 


281 

is  reckoned  and  with  which  it  ends.  This  begins  to  show  a  con¬ 
nection  between  these  rows  of  month  dates  which  was  not  ap¬ 
parent  before.  In  the  Temple  of  the  Foliated  Cross  at  Palenque 
we  find  an  Initial  Series  of  1.18.5.4.0.,  1  Ahau  13  Mac  —  a 
date  61  calendar  rounds  before  our  date  as  calculated  here. 

In  F  2  we  find  4.12.8.0.  —  33,280.  Counting  forward  this 
number  from  9.9.9.16.0.,  1  Ahau  18  Kayab  ®,  we  reach 
9.14.2.6.0.,  1  Ahau  18  Uo  which  we  found  at  the  foot  of  Col¬ 
umn  C  without  any  long  number.  If  we  count  forward  again 
this  same  number  4.12.8.0  we  reach  9.18.14.14.0.,  1  Ahau  3 
Xul  @,  a  date  from  which  the  third  row  of  month  dates  on 
pages  46-50  is  reckoned  and  with  which  it  ends. 

On  D  2  we  find  1.5. 14.4.0.  =  185,120  days.  This  also  equals 
the  sum  of  the  two  numbers  found  on  D  1  and  F  2 ;  thus,  1 . 1 . 1 . 1 4.0. 
+  4.12.8.0.  =  1.5. 14.4.0.  Counting  forward  this  number  from 
9.9.9.16.0.,  1  Ahau  18  Kayab®,  we  reach  10.15.4.2.0.,  1 
Ahau  18  Uo  © ,  and  again  counting  forward  the  same  number, 
we  reach  12.0.18.6.0.,  1  Ahau  3  Xul  ®,as  before.  As  the  num¬ 
bers  in  D  2  and  F  2  both  count  forward  to  the  same  date  (as 
they  must  do  since  1.5. 14.4.0.  =  8  calendar  rounds  +  4.12.8.0.) , 
the  date  1  Ahau  3  Xul  can  be  reached  by  counting  forward 
from  1  Ahau  18  Kayab®  to  1  Ahau  18  Uo®  with  either  of  these 
numbers,  and  counting  forward  again  from  1  Ahau  18  Uo  © 
with  the  other.  This  would  give  a  possible  value  to  1  Ahau 
3  Xul  (§)  of  10.19. 16. 10.0. 

I  am  inclined  therefore  to  place  the  dates  in  the  following 
order  in  the  long  count: 


282 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


(Possible  dates) 


4  Ahau  8  Cumhu  (7) 


(date  far  in  the  past) 

13. 

0. 

0. 

0. 

0. 

I 

(( 

18  Kayab  (1)  Column  B 

9- 

9- 

9- 

16. 

0. 

4 

<< 

8  Cumhu  (7)  “  A 

9- 

9- 

16. 

0. 

0. 

1 

<< 

18  Uo  (g)  “  C 

9- 

14. 

2. 

6. 

0. 

(10. 

15. 

4- 

2. 

0.) 

1 

U 

3  Xul  ^ 

9- 

18. 

14. 

14. 

0. 

(10. 

19. 

16. 

10. 

0.) 

(12. 

0. 

18. 

6. 

0.) 

1 

it 

13  Mac  @ 

9- 

19. 

1. 

5- 

0. 

It  is  impossible  to  say  at  present  what  the  meaning  is  of  the 
number  1.5. 5.0.,  found  in  G  2;  but  there  are  several  striking 
coincidences  connected  with  it.  This  number  is  equal  to  9100 
days,  or  five  times  the  well-known  period  of  5.1.0.  (1820)  days. 
This  is  25  periods  of  364  days  or  25  days  less  than  25  years.  It 
is  also  a  coincidence  that  25  is  the  number  of  intercalary  days 
required  after  the  passage  of  104  years,  (a  period  which  is  given 
in  G  1,  as  5. 5. 8.0.,  immediately  over  1.5. 5.0.)  in  order  to  bring 
the  seasons  and  calendar  into  harmony.  If  this  were  done  by 
calculation  without  the  actual  insertion  of  the  intercalary  days, 
one  method  of  accomplishing  it  would  be  by  counting  back  the 
necessary  number  of  days  and  finding  the  month  day  reached 
thereby.  Thus  if,  at  the  end  of  104  years  when  the  date  1  Ahau 
18  Kayab  (T)  was  reached,  the  priests  wished  to  know  what 
needed  to  be  done  in  order  to  bring  the  calendar  into  harmony 
with  the  seasons,  they  would  see  that  by  counting  back  25  days 
from  18  Kayab  and  reaching  13  Pax,  and  then  counting  for¬ 
ward  again  to  18  Kayab,  the  day  18  Kayab  would  again  coincide 
with  the  summer  solstice.  Now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  this  day  13 
Pax  would  be  reached  by  counting  forward  1.5. 5.0.  from  18 
Kayab.  This  is  necessarily  so,  since  the  sum  of  1.5. 5.0.  and  1.5. 


DRESDEN  CODEX 


283 


(25)  equals  1. 5.6.5.,  or  25  years  of  365  days  each.  Surely  it  is  a 
striking  coincidence  that,  where  the  number  recording  104 
years  is  given,  there  is  found  directly  below  it  a  number  which, 
on  being  counted  forward,  brings  the  month  day  to  which  it 
would  be  necessary  to  count  back  in  order  to  insert  the  25  inter¬ 
calary  days  needed  to  bring  the  calendar  and  seasons  into  unison. 
This  correction  could  be  calculated  at  the  end  of  each  104  years. 

The  same  result  would  also  follow  if  we  consider  the  104 
years  as  ending  with  the  other  dates  found  as  the  starting  and 
ending  points  of  the  other  rows  of  month  dates ;  namely,  1  Ahau 
13  Mac  (34)  and  1  Ahau  3  Xul  (28).  The  date  13  Mac  would 
represent  March  26,  within  five  days  of  the  vernal  equinox,  if 
Bishop  Landa  is  correct  in  his  statement  that  the  Maya  year 
began  on  July  16. 

Another  interesting  coincidence  is  the  following. 

We  have  found  on  page  24  the  date  1  Ahau  18 
Kayab  (T)  stated  as 

and  again  on  page  46  the  same  date  is  the  point 
from  which  the  second  row  of  month  days, 
which  ends  with  1  Ahau  18  Kayab  ®  on 
page  50,  takes  its  start.  By  counting  for¬ 
ward  the  distance  which  is  probably  record¬ 
ed  on  page  24,  D  1 

the  day  reached  is  1  Ahau  18  Kayab 

If,  now,  the  additional  number  of  days  recorded 
in  G  2 

is  counted  forward,  there  is  reached  the  month 

day  13  Pax  10.1 1.16.17.0. 

In  this  long  period  within  108  days  of  2612  Venus  revolutions 


9.  9.  9.16.0. 


1.  1.  1. 14.0. 
10.10.1 1. 12.0. 


1.  5.  5.0. 


284  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


have  passed,  calculating  584  days  to  a  revolution.  But  the  true 
length  of  a  Venus  revolution  is  not  584  days  but  583  days; 
so  that  there  is  an  error  of  r-^  of  a  day  in  each  revolution. 
The  Mayas  however  did  not  use  decimals,  and,  if  they  corrected 
their  calculation  of  the  Venus  revolutions,  as  I  think  they  did,  it 
would  probably  have  been  accomplished  by  calculating  an  error 
of  two  days  in  25  revolutions,  this  bringing  the  same  result  as  if  an 
error  of  ^  of  a  day  had  been  reckoned  in  each  revolution. 
In  2612  revolutions  there  are  104  times  25  revolutions  and  12 
revolutions  over.  The  error  in  2612  revolutions  would  then 
be  twice  104,  or  208  days,  to  which  another  day  could  be  added 
for  the  extra  12  revolutions,  making  an  error  of  209  days  in  all. 
That  is,  on  reaching  13  Pax,  it  would  be  found  that  the  position, 
which  by  calculation  Venus  should  have  then  reached,  had 
actually  been  reached  209  days  before,  or  on  4  Xul,  this  month 
day  also  being  the  first  day  of  the  third  row  of  month  days  on 
pages  46-30.  This  is  true  however  of  the  month  day  only,  since 
the  day  reached  would  be  13  Cib  4  Xul,  and  not  4  Ymix  4  Xul. 
This  discrepancy  may  however  be  accounted  for  on  the  supposi¬ 
tion  that  the  priests,  in  calculating  the  error  of  the  Venus  revolu¬ 
tions,  were  only  anxious  to  discover  the  true  position  in  the  year 
and  not  in  the  calendar  round. 

Still  another  coincidence  is  connected  with  1.5. 3.0.  Page 
24,  D  2,  gives  the  number  1.3. 14.4.0.,  equal  to  183,120  days,  or  317 
Venus  revolutions  less  8  days.  The  error  here  would  be  24  days 
for  the  300  revolutions,  and,  approximately,  1  day  for  the  other 
17  revolutions,  making  23  days  in  all.  The  position  of  Venus 
which  had  been  calculated  as  occurring  at  the  end  of  1.3. 14.4.0. 


DRESDEN  CODEX 


285 


days,  had  actually  been  reached  25  days  earlier,  and  the  same 
month  day  is  reached  by  counting  forward  1.5. 5.0.  days  (the 
number  in  G  2)  as  by  counting  back  25  days. 

The  only  explanation,  then,  which  I  have  to  offer  for  this 
number  1.5. 5.0.,  and  I  offer  it  with  a  great  deal  of  doubt,  consists 
of  three  parts: 

1.  The  writer  wished  to  show  that,  by  counting  forward 
25  times  364  days,  he  reached  the  same  month  date  as  if  he  had 
counted  back  25  days ;  and  that  he  selected  the  number  25  as  a 
multiple  of  364,  simply  because  it  was  the  number  of  intercalary 
days  needed  in  5. 5. 8.0.,  (the  number  directly  above  1.5. 5.0.), 
and  because  one  method  of  intercalating  these  days  would  be  to 
go  back  and  count  them  over  again  —  practically  the  same  meth¬ 
od  adopted  in  the  case  of  the  Roman  bissextile. 

2.  The  writer  wished  to  show  that,  on  passing  over  the 
number  of  days  set  down  in  D  2,  1.5. 14.4.0.,  the  error  in  the 
observed  point  of  the  revolution  of  Venus  was  corrected  by 
counting  back  25  days. 

3.  He  further  wished  to  show  that  on  reaching  13  Pax, 
10.1 1.16.17.0.,  (reckoning  with  the  second  row  of  month  days 
on  pages  46-50  which  start  from  the  date  1  Ahau  18  Kayab  ®  ), 
the  error  in  the  calculation  of  the  Venus  revolutions  was  such 
that  the  correction  of  the  error  brought  back  the  count  to  4  Xul, 
the  first  month  day  of  the  third  row  of  month  days  on  these 
pages. 

Taking  up  the  rows  of  glyphs.,  which  lie  between  the  rows 
of  month  dates,  we  find  none  on  page  46  which  have  numbers 
connected  with  them.  But  the  following  are  found  on  the  other 
pages: 


286  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Page  47,  above  the  black  numbers,  Column  3 


below 

ii 

ii 

ll 

a 

4 

48,  “ 

it 

a 

it 

a 

1 

above 

ii 

it 

it 

a 

2 

below 

u 

u 

it 

a 

3 

49, above 

it 

it 

(i 

it 

4 

50,  below 

(( 

it 

it 

n 

1 

above 

u 

it 

it 

tt 

3 

below 

<< 

it 

it 

tt 

4 

Figure  1 
4  katuns 
Figure  2 

4  katuns  or  4  Zac 
Figure  3 
“  4 

“  5 

“  6 

“  7 

“  8 


It  would  seem  as  if  these  glyphs  might  have  a  numerical  or 
calendrical  meaning.  They  form  part  of  two  rows  of  glyphs  — 
one  of  which  is  the  second  row  above,  and  the  other  is  the  second 
or  third  row  below,  the  rows  of  black  numbers  in  the  centres  of 
the  pages.  In  most  cases,  if  a  glyph  appears  in  the  first,  second, 
third,  or  fourth  column  of  the  upper  of  the  two  rows,  the  same 
glyph  also  appears  in  the  next  following  column  of  the  lower 
row.  Thus  figure  5  appears  in  the  fourth  column  of  page  49, 
and  figure  6  in  the  first  column  of  page  50,  and  these  glyphs 
are  nearly  identical.  Also  figure  1  appears  in  the  third  column 
of  the  upper  row  of  page  47,  and  figure  2  in  the  fourth  column 
of  the  lower  row  of  the  same  page.  The  lower  parts  of  figures 


DRESDEN  CODEX  287 

1  and  2  are  not  exactly  alike,  but  the  upper  parts  and  the  num¬ 
bers  attached  to  the  glyphs  are  alike. 

Taking  up  figures  1  and  2,  we  find  that  the  number  of  days, 
counted  through  Columns  3  and  4  of  page  47,  are  as  follows, 
according  to  the  number  of  the  rows  of  day  signs  on  the  top  of 
pages  46-50  (each  of  which  rows  equals  8.2.0.),  which  we 
have  counted.  The  numbers  reached,  counting  from  the  begin¬ 
ning,  are 


COLUMN  3  COLUMN  4 


I. 

3- 

4. 

o.=  1,160 

3- 

4- 

8.=  1,168 

2. 

11. 

6. 

0.—  4,080 

1 1. 

6. 

8.=  4,088 

3- 

19. 

8. 

o.=  7,000 

19- 

8. 

8.=  7,008 

4- 

1. 

7- 

10. 

o.=  9,920 

1. 

7- 

10. 

8.=  9,928 

5- 

1. 

15. 

12. 

o.=i  2,840 

1. 

15. 

12. 

8.=i2,848 

6. 

2. 

3- 

14. 

o.=i  5,760 

2. 

3- 

14. 

8.=i  5,768 

7- 

2. 

11. 

16. 

o.=i8,68o 

2. 

11. 

16. 

8.=i  8,688 

8. 

3- 

0. 

0. 

0.-21,600  1 

3- 

0. 

0. 

8.=2 1,608 

9- 

3- 

8. 

2. 

0.=24,520 

3- 

8. 

2. 

8—24,528 

10. 

3- 

16. 

4- 

o.=27,440 

3- 

16. 

4- 

8.=27,448 

11. 

4- 

4- 

6. 

©.=30,360 

4- 

4- 

6. 

8.=30,368 

12. 

4- 

12. 

8. 

o.=33,28o 

4- 

12. 

8. 

8.=33,288 

13- 

5- 

0. 

10. 

o.=36,2C>o 

5- 

0. 

10. 

8.=36,2o8 

If  the  glyph  4  katuns  in  Column  4  means  that  at  this  point 
4  katuns  have  passed,  it  will  be  seen  that  there  are  but  two  dates 
in  Column  3  in  which  4  katuns  have  been  reached;  namely,  No. 
11  (4.4.6.0=30,360)  and  No.  12  (4.12.8.0=33,280)  except  No. 
13,  when  5  katuns  have  been  reached  and  passed.  In  the  same 
way,  in  Column  4  these  distances  are  44.6.8.  and  4.12.8.8.  which 
equal  30,368  and  33,288  respectively. 


1  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  this  is  exactly  3  katuns. 


288 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


If  the  glyphs,  figures  i  and  2,  are  confirmatory  of  the  4 
katuns  glyph,  meaning  that  the  distance  reached  is  4  katuns  or 
over,  and  is  divisible  by  13,  as  would  appear  to  be  the  case  judg¬ 
ing  by  the  number  attached  to  these  glyphs,  we  must  take  in 
Column  3,  No.  12  =  33,280,  which  equals  13  X  2560,  whereas  in 
Column  4,  we  must  take  No.  1 1  =  30,368  —  13  X  2336.  2560  == 

5  X  29,  while  2336  =  4  X  384. 

As  these  pages  deal  with  the  Venus  revolution,  it  would 
seem  therefore  that  the  latter  number  is  the  one  to  be  con¬ 
sidered.  Here,  then,  we  have  a  possible  statement  that  at  this 
point  30,368  days  have  passed,  which  equals  13  X  4  X  584,  or  52 
revolutions  of  Venus.  If  this  be  so,  the  glyph  to  which  the  13 
is  attached  would  mean  4  X  584,  or  4  revolutions  of  Venus. 

Another  possibility  of  the  meaning  of  this  glyph  should  be 
considered,  namely  that  the  4  katuns  and  figures  1  and  2  are  not 
confirmatory  of  each  other,  but  that  the  glyph  with  13  gives 
the  number  of  days  to  be  added  to  4  katuns  to  give  the  distance 
reached.  In  this  case  the  numbers  denoted  by  figures  1  and 
2  would  be,  in  Column  3,  No.  n  (4.6.0.=  1560)  and  No.  12 
(12.8.0.  =  4480),  and  in  Column  4,  No.  11  (4.6.8.  =  1568)  and 
No.  12  (12.8.8  =  4488) 

Of  these  numbers,  No.  11  in  Column  3  (1560,  which  equals 
13X120)  is  the  only  one  of  the  four  numbers  divisible  by  13 
without  a  remainder.  The  only  significance  in  this  is  that  120 
equals  one-third  of  a  tun. 

It  would  seem  then  that  the  author  may  have  wished  to  de¬ 
clare  that  in  Column  4  of  page  47,  after  having  passed  through 
the  day  series  of  pages  46-50  ten  times,  and  having  reached  the 
end  of  the  second  page  on  the  eleventh  round,  52  revolu- 


DRESDEN  CODEX 


289 


tions  of  Venus  had  passed.  The  date  reached  from  1  Ahau  18 
Kayab  ©  would  be  1  Lamat  6  Zip  (33) ;  from  1  Ahau  13  Mac  @ 
would  be  1  Lamat  6  Kayab  @  and  from  1  Ahau  3  Xul@  would 
be  1  Lamat  16  Chen  ®, —  all  of  which  appear  in  the  rows  of 
month  dates. 

Taking  the  dates  for  1  Ahau  18  Kayab  ©,  1  Ahau  13 
Mac  @,  as  we  have  determined  them  in  the  long  count,  and 
taking  the  earliest  date  for  1  Ahau  3  Xul  (28) ,  of  the  three  which 
are  possible,  we  get  the  dates  when  the  passage  of  52  Venus  revo¬ 
lutions  would  have  culminated  as  — 

1  Lamat  6  Zip  (33)  =  9. 13. 14.  4.8. 

1  Lamat  6  Kayab  (13)  =10.  3.  5.11.8. 

1  Lamat  16  Chen  ©  =10.  2.19.  2.8. 

the  latter  nearly  coinciding  with  the  Initial  date  found  in 
Chichen  Itza,  of  10. 2. 9. 1.9. 

The  number  given  in  No.  12  (4.12.8.0.)  is  the  number  found 
in  F  2  of  page  24,  and  is  the  distance  from  1  Ahau  18  Kayab  © 
to  1  Ahau  18  Uo  @,  as  is  shown  by  18  Uo  appearing  in  Column 
3  of  page  47.  This  number  33,280  =  91  X  365  +  63  or  13  X 
2560. 

The  so-called  Bacab  sign,  or  a  sign  like  the  Bacab  sign,  ap¬ 
pears  immediately  below  (as  it  does  elsewhere)  ;  and  the  Bacab 
sign,  in  Dr  Forstemann’s  opinion,  is  associated  with  the  num¬ 
ber  91. 

Again,  on  page  48,  figure  4  appears  next  but  one  glyph 
below  17  Mac.  Here  we  find  that  we  have  reached  within  8 
days  of  the  end  of  the  3d,  8th,  13th,  etc.,  revolutions  of  Venus. 


290 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


If  we  consider  that  i  full  revolution  of  104  years  has  passed 

=  65  Venus  revolutions 

and  two  sets  of  2920  days  (5  Venus  rev¬ 
olutions)  or  of  the  day  signs  at  the 

top  of  the  pages  =  10  Venus  revolutions 

and  three  revolutions  for  the  three 

pages,  =  3  Venus  revolutions 

we  have  a  total  of  78  Venus  revolutions. 

This  is  a  significant  number.  If  the  glyph  attached  to  the  num¬ 
ber  6  refers  to  the  number  of  revolutions  which  have  passed  it 
would  equal  13  Venus  revolutions.  I  have  already  expressed  my 
suspicion  that  the  Ben-Ik  symbol  equals  13.  If  this  be  true,  the 
lower  part  of  the  glyph  would  equal  1  Venus  revolution.  But  I 
have  thought  that  figure  2  might  equal  4  of  such 
revolutions.  The  lower  parts  of  figures  2  and  4  are 
very  similar,  if  not  identical;  and  if  this  lower  part 
equal  1  Venus  revolution,  and  if  figure  2  equal  4  such  revolu¬ 
tions,  then  the  upper  part  or  figure  9  would  have  the  meaning 
of  4. 

Now,  in  78  Venus  revolutions,  the  error  would  be  6%  days 
and  here  we  find  the  glyph  which  may  mean  78  synodical  revolu¬ 
tions  in  the  third  column, —  8  days  before  the  calculated  end, — 
an  error  of  but  days.1 

On  page  49,  Column  4,  and  page  50,  Column  1,  appear  the 
two  similar  glyphs,  figures  5  and  6.  This  is  a  Bacab  sign  so- 

1  It  should  be  noted  here  that  figure  3,  which  appears  in  column  3  of  page  48,  above 
the  black  series  of  numbers,  and  which  would  naturally  be  the  companion  glyph  of 
figure  4,  has  no  Ben-Ik  sign  as  a  superfix. 


Fig.  9 


DRESDEN  CODEX 


291 


called,  and  we  should  naturally  associate  the  number  91  with 
it;  but  neither  the  black  numbers  in  these  columns  (6.8.16.  or 
7.2.12.) ,  nor  these  numbers  plus  any  multiple  (up  to  12)  of  8.2.0. 
(2920),  are  divisible  by  91.  Neither  is  the  black  number  im¬ 
mediately  preceding  6.8.16.  (namely  6.8.8.)  nor  this  number  plus 
any  multiple  (up  to  12)  of  8.2.0.,  divisible  by  91.  At  present, 
therefore,  the  meaning  of  the  Bacab  with  the  number  1  attached 
to  it  cannot  be  determined. 

The  only  other  glyphs  referred  to  above,  which  require  to 
be  considered,  are  those  of  figures  7  and  8.  They  look  like  7 
Mol,  and,  if  this  is  the  date,  it  may  have  some  significance  at¬ 
tached  to  it. 

If,  on  page  24,  as  I  suggest,  the  1  Ahau  18  Kayab  (T),  from 
which  the  series  of  these  pages  counts,  is  9.  9.  9.  16.0. 

then,  at  the  end  of  the  series  on  page  50,  we  shall 
have,  after  104  years  or  65  Venus  revolutions, 
a  further  passage  of  time  of  5.  5.  8.  o. 

giving  another  1  Ahau  18  Kayab  (1),  9.14.15.  6.0. 

This  equals  2400  Venus  revolutions  and  720  days.  If  we  allow 
a  variation  or  recession  of  2  days  in  25  revolutions,  we  shall  have 
a  recession  of  about  192  days.  This  would  carry  the  date  back 
from  18  Kayab  to  6  Mol,  and  7  Mol  appears  below  18  Kayab. 

This  distance  also  equals  3840  years  of  365  days  each  +  720 
days.  3840  years  equal  36  X  104  +  96  years.  Allowing  an  error 
of  23  days  in  each  104  years,  and  3  days  in  each  13  years  remain¬ 
ing,  we  get  a  correction  of  36  X  25  +  96  -J-  13  X  3  =  900  +  21 
=  921  =2  years  191  days.  If,  then,  we  count  back  2  years  191 
days  from  1  Ahau  18  Kayab  ® ,  we  reach  7  Mol,  which  is  given 


292  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

here;  and  from  this  we  must  count  forward  a  second  time  to  18 
Kayab  in  order  to  bring  the  calendar  into  accord  with  the  sea¬ 
sons.  But  practically  the  years  may  be  neglected;  and  by  count¬ 
ing  back  the  191  days  and  then  re-counting  them,  we  shall  again 
bring  18  Kayab  and  the  summer  solstice  together. 

Here  then  we  have  the  striking  fact  that  by  going  back  to 
the  date  of  the  end  of  the  Venus  revolution  (corrected)  and 
counting  forward  191  days  a  second  time  the  calendar  and  the 
seasons  would  be  brought  together. 

In  the  lower  parts  of  pages  46-50,  there  appear  the  fol¬ 
lowing  glyphs:  on  page  46,  a  glyph  composed  of  a  head  with  a 
uinal  glyph  below,  and  with  a  number  2  before  it  (figure  10)  ; 
on  page  48,  the  same  head  that  was  found  on  page  46,  but  now 
appearing  with  a  superfix  in  the  form  of  a  knot,  and  with  the 
number  3  before  it,  followed  by  a  uinal  glyph,  with  a  net-like 
superfix  and  also  with  the  number  3  before  it  (figures  11,  12). 
On  page  49  practically  the  same  glyphs  appear,  except  that  the 
knot  is  a  subfix,  instead  of  a  superfix,  of  the  head,  the  uinal  glyph 
has  no  superfix,  and  the  number  before  each  glyph  is  7  (figures 
13,  14).  On  page  50  the  two  glyphs  are  again  united  as  they 
were  on  page  46,  with  the  number  10  before  them,  (figure  15). 


Fig.  10  Fig.  11  Fig.  12  Fig.  13  Fig.  14  Fig.  15 


Placing  these  together,  on  the  assumption  that  the  numbers 
belong  to  both  glyphs  where  they  are  found  together,  the  fol¬ 
lowing  table  results  — 

Page  46. 

47- 


2  head  2  uinal 
No  corresponding  glyphs 


DRESDEN  CODEX 


293 


Page  48. 


49. 

50. 


3  head  3  uinal 
7  head  7  uinal 
10  head  10  uinal 


It  would  seem  that  these  glyphs,  occupying  the  same  posi¬ 
tions  on  the  various  pages,  must  have  something  to  do  with  the 
lapse  of  time;  but  the  glyphs  on  pages  46  and  50  alone  show 
this.  If,  at  the  end  of  one  period  of  584  days,  two  of  the  periods 
represented  by  these  glyphs  had  elapsed,  ten  of  the  same  periods 
would  have  elapsed  at  the  end  of  five  periods  of  584  days.  We 
actually  find  the  glyphs  with  two  on  page  46  and  ten  on  page  50; 
and  in  both  cases  the  united  form  of  glyph  is  used.  But 
why,  after  the  lapse  of  three  periods  of  584  days,  the  number  3 
is  found  on  page  48,  and  after  the  lapse  of  four  periods  the  num¬ 
ber  7  is  found,  in  both  cases  with  the  glyphs  separated,  I  can¬ 
not  tell. 

Judging  from  the  fact  that  the  Venus  revolutions  are  the 
subject  of  these  pages,  we  should  be  led  to  suppose  that  on  page 
50,  the  passage  of  2920  days  would  be  likely  to  be  recorded,  so 
that,  if  the  uinal  represents  20  and  the  method  of  addition  is 
used,  the  uinal  part  would  mean  10  X  20  =  200,  and  the  remain¬ 
der  of  the  glyph  would  represent  2920-200  or  2720,  or  10  X 
272,  the  head  meaning  272.  Similar  reasoning  would  give  the 
uinals  on  page  46  as  2  X  20  =  40,  and  the  remainder  of  the  glyph 
as  584-40,  or  544,  or  2  X  272,  the  head  again  meaning  272.  But 
this  plan  does  not  suit  the  numbers  on  the  other  pages;  for  on 
page  48,  where  the  lapse  of  1752  days  is  given,  if  3  uinals  or  60 
days  is  subtracted,  1692  days  are  left.  Again,  subtracting  3  X  272 
or  816,  there  is  a  remainder  to  be  accounted  for  of  876  days.  On 
page  49,  2336  days  have  elapsed.  Subtracting  7  uinals,  2196 


294 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Fig.  16 


days  remain,  and  again  subtracting  7X272=1904, 
there  is  a  remainder  of  292,  which  may  possibly  be  # 
represented  by  a  third  glyph  with  the  number  4  at¬ 
tached  to  it  (figure  16) .  In  this  case  the  crouching  figure  would 
mean  73,  or  one-fifth  of  a  year  of  365  days.  But  this  is  all  prob¬ 
lematical. 

Before  closing  this  article,  reference  should  be  made  to  the 
views  that  have  been  given  by  Dr.  Forstemann  in  his  Commentar 
zur  Mayahandschrift  zu  Dresden ,  in  regard  to  the  meaning  of 
these  pages.1  It  is  with  some  doubt  that  I  venture  to  criticise 
any  views  of  Dr  Forstemann,  since  I  have  the  greatest  admira¬ 
tion  for  the  work  that  he  did  in  the  line  of  deciphering  the  Maya 
hieroglyphs.  While  it  may  be  true  that  the  Mayas  desired  to 
find  a  number  which  would  contain  an  even  number  of  solar 
years,  Venus  revolutions  and  Tonalamatls,  etc.,  as  Dr  Forste¬ 
mann  suggests,  they  still  saw,  I  think,  a  deeper  meaning  in  the 
hieroglyphs  which  we  have  under  consideration.  This  further 
meaning  was  probably  the  rectification  of  errors  which  in  a  long 
series  of  years  would  show  themselves  with  unfailing  certainty 
in  the  calculations  of  the  revolutions  of  heavenly  bodies. 

A  considerable  proportion  of  Dr  Forstemann’s  remarks 
are  based  on  a  period  of  1,352,400  days,  which  he  calculates  to 
be  the  distance  from  4  Ahau  8  Cumhu  (7)  the  starting  point  far 
in  the  past,  to  the  present  day  1  Ahau  18  Zip  In  order  to  find 
this  number,  he  has  changed  the  date  at  the  bottom  of  page  24 
from  1  Ahau  18  Uo  (4i)  to  1  Ahau  18  Zip@.  This  change  must 
be  considered  untenable,  as  has  been  shown  above. 

It  is  owing  to  this  change  also  that  Dr  Forstemann  says 


1  Pages  46,  etc.,  106,  etc. 


DRESDEN  CODEX 


295 


that  the  second  row  of  numbers  on  page  24  is  “without  rule,” 
except  that  he  obtains  certain  results  by  adding  and  subtracting 
the  first  and  second  numbers  and  the  second  and  the  fourth.  I 
have  shown  above  the  possible  meaning  of  the  numbers  in  the 
second  row. 

Another  large  part  of  Dr  Forstemann’s  reasoning  depends 
on  his  considering  that  the  Mayas  calculated  the  synodical  revo¬ 
lution  of  Mercury  at  115  days.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  know 
that  the  snyodical  revolution  of  Mercury  is  115.877  days.  It 
is  almost  impossible  to  believe  that  the  Mayas,  if  they  actually 
observed  the  planet  Mercury,  would  have  used  this  calculation, 
when  in  a  single  year  there  would  have  been  three  of  these  rev¬ 
olutions  and  the  error  would  have  been  over  2 days.  Further¬ 
more,  Dr  Forstemann  speaks  of  a  certain  number  being  equal  to 
11,864  revolutions  of  Mercury,  calculating  that  revolution  at 
1 15  days.  The  error  in  this  number  of  revolutions  would  be 
10,404  days,  or  nearly  30  years.  I  think  this  estimate  of  115 
days  for  a  synodical  revolution  of  Mercury  must  be  abandoned. 

In  speaking  of  the  date  1  Ahau  18  Kayab  ®,  Dr  Forste¬ 
mann  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  Temple  of  the  Cross 
at  Palenque  has  a  date  one  Tonalamatl  before  this,  and  says  that 
the  distance  from  1  Ahau  18  Kayab®  to  4  Ahau  8  Cumhu  @ 
which  date  also  occurs  in  the  Inscription  a  short  distance  after 
the  Initial  series,  is  given  in  Ci  D2  as  2200  days,  the  same  dis¬ 
tance  as  is  given  on  page  24.  The  distance  really  given  in  Ci  D2 
is  8.5.0.  and  not  6.2.0.  To  account  for  this  number  of  2200  days, 
Dr  Forstemann  suggests  that  it  may  have  been  reached  by  add¬ 
ing  the  following  periods : 


296  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Solar  year . 365  days 

12  revolutions  of  the  moon  at  29  §  356  days 

Mercury  revolution . 115  days 

Venus  “  . 584  days 

Mars  “  . 780  days 


2200 

In  order  to  bring  this  about,  it  is  necessary  to  take  12  revolu¬ 
tions  of  the  moon  at  29  2/3  days;  and  Dr  Forstemann  justifies 
himself  in  doing  this,  by  stating  that  he  found  on  pages  51-58, 
6  revolutions  of  the  moon  to  be  stated  in  some  places  at  177  and 
in  others  at  178  days.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  these  two  sums  make 
355,  and  not  356,  and  it  is  also  true  that  the  long  series  on  pages 
51-58  gives  405  revolutions  of  the  moon  in  11,958  days,  which 
gives  a  litle  over  29^  days  for  each  revolution.  Moreover, 
there  would  seem  to  be  no  reason  for  this  computation,  as  these 
periods  do  not  follow  one  another. 

In  speaking  of  the  prevalence  of  the  number  1  and  the 
day  Ahau  in  the  Tonalamatl,  he  states  that  this  number  and  this 
day  are  used  very  much  more  than  any  other  number  or  day. 
This  is  true  of  the  days,  not  only  in  the  Dresden,  but  in  the  Tro- 
Cortesianus,  but  the  number  1  in  the  Dresden  is  not  used  very 
much  oftener  than  the  number  thirteen,  and  in  the  Tro,  so  far 
as  a  hasty  calculation  goes,  it  appears  only  twelve  times,  while 
4  appears  twenty-four  times  and  13  thirteen  times,  at  the  head 
of  the  Tonalamatl. 

In  Dr  Forstemann’s  comments  on  pages  46-50,  there  is  a 
great  deal  of  value  and  a  great  deal  that  will  carry  conviction. 

There  are  several  points,  however,  which  I  think  should  be 
alluded  to.  He  refers  to  a  row  of  Akbal  signs.1  May  it  not  be 


1  Commentar  zur  Mayahandschriflen  zu  Dresden,  p.  107.  Translation,  p.  183. 


DRESDEN  CODEX 


297 


that  he  is  mistaken  in  this  identification?  Are  not  the  signs 
really  Chuen,  and  do  they  mean  “close”?  Xul  has  been  used 
with  this  meaning  heretofore  by  Dr  Forstemann. 

He  also  refers 1  to  the  second  month  sign  in  the  first  row 
of  month  signs  on  page  50  as  being  the  20th  day  of  the  1 8th 
month  Cumhu.  I  think  that  he,  on  further  consideration,  would 
have  agreed  with  others  that  the  date  is  really  the  zero  day  of 
the  five  supplementary  days,  Uayeb  meaning,  as  I  think,  the 
beginning  day  of  these  days,  though  Dr.  Seler  thinks,  (without 
sufficient  evidence,  in  my  opinion),  that  the  meaning  is  the 
evening  before,  that  day. 

Dr  Forstemann  also  says 2  that,  in  the  Anales  del  Museo 
Nacional,  eight  days  are  given  as  the  time  of  the  obscurity  of 
Venus.  In  the  volume  to  which  he  refers,  Sr.  Troncoso  quotes 
from  the  Anales  del  Quauhtitlan  that  Quetzalcoatl  did  not  go  to 
heaven,  when  he  disappeared  from  earth,  but  went  to  hell  for 
eight  days.  This  is  not  as  clear  a  statement  of  the  invisibility 
of  Venus  as  it  might  be,  though,  of  course,  it  is  open  to  that 
interpretation. 

Dr  Forstemann  3  is  in  favor  of  reading  the  three  rows  of 
month  dates  one  after  the  other  from  bottom  to  top  —  a  direc¬ 
tion  directly  opposite  to  that  of  the  days  signs.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  whenever  the  reading  is  from  bottom  to  top,  the  glyphs  have 
to  be  read  almost,  if  not  absolutely,  invariably  from  right  to  left; 
but  here  the  reading  of  the  glyphs  is  clearly  from  left  to  right. 

Dr  Forstemann  4  sees  a  Mercury-lunar  period  inserted  be- 

1  Commentar  zur  Mayahandschriften  zu  Dresden ,  p.  108.  Translation,  p.  184. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  109.  Translation,  p.  185. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  no.  Translation,  p.  186. 

4  Ibid.,  p.  in.  Translation,  p.  187. 


298  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


tween  two  of  these  month  series,  and  a  Mars  period  between  the 
other  two.  I  think  that  Dr.  Forstemann’s  reasoning  is  unsound. 
He  says  that  the  Mayas  first  counted  by  Venus  years,  then  by 
Mars  periods,  then  by  Venus  periods,  then  by  Mercury 
periods  for  thirty  years,  and  then  again  by  Venus  periods.  It 
is  difficult  to  see  of  what  value  such  a  computation  would  be. 
Moreover,  the  wonderfully  constructed  method  of  calculating 
and  recording  time  which  the  Mayas  had  devised,  would  un¬ 
doubtedly  have  been  thrown  out  of  gear  by  such  a  plan.  The 
total  period  thus  computed  would  not  have  been  divisible  by  any 
of  the  periods  used  in  its  construction  —  solar,  Venus,  Mercury, 
and  Mars  periods  —  without  a  remainder. 

In  discussing  what  he  calls  the  “god  signs,”  Dr  Forstemann  1 
calls  the  katun  sign  with  the  number  4  attached  to  it.  the  God 
N,  and  the  glyph  with  the  number  13  the  Moan  sign,  while  he 
describes  the  glyph,  which  I  have  commented  on  as  meaning  7 
Mol,  as  unknown.  I  do  not  think  that  these  interpretations  are 
entirely  correct,  though  it  is  very  possible  that  the  same  sign  may 
be  the  symbol  of  a  god  as  well  as  a  date.  But  the  4  katun  of 
page  47  is  very  different  from  the  4  Zac  which  appears  at  the  end 
of  the  236  day  period  on  page  48. 

I  regret  that  I  am  unable  to  agree  fully  with  many  of  Dr 
Forstemann’s  numerical  calculations,  very  ingenious  and  inter¬ 
esting  as  they  are;  but  very  little  dependence  can  be  placed  on 
the  wonderful  results  which  can  be  obtained  with  numbers  which 
have  the  same  factors. 

Boston,  Massachusetts 


1  Commentar  zur  Mayahandscriften  zu  Dresden,  p.  hi.  Translation,  p.  188. 


NOTES  ON  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  OF  THE 

NAVAHO 

BY 

Alfred  Marston  Tozzer 


The  Navaho  and  their  Relations  with  other  Peoples 


THE  Navaho  together  with  the  Apache  form  the  southern 
extension  of  the  great  Athapascan  family  which  stretches 
northward  to  the  farthest  tip  of  the  continent.  Traces  of 
the  affiliations  of  the  Navaho  with  the  northern  Athapascan 
peoples  are  for  the  greater  part  lacking.  There  are  very  few,  if 
any,  similarities  in  material  culture  which  can  definitely  be  made 
out  between  the  Dene  of  the  north  and  the  Navaho  and  Apache 
of  the  south. 

On  the  ceremonial  side  of  the  religion  we  find  nothing.  In 
the  mythology  there  may  be  a  few  faint  traces  of  the  early  parent¬ 
age  of  the  Navaho.  Dr  Boas 1  sums  up  the  matter  when  he  says, 
“I  was  much  interested  in  finding  on  a  close  examination  of  the 
Navaho  legends  that  there  was  interwoven  with  a  large  mass  of 
material  foreign  to  northern  tribes  many  tales  undoubtedly  de¬ 
rived  from  the  same  sources  from  which  the  northern  tales 
spring.  Most  of  them  are  so  complex  and  curious  that,  taken 
in  connection  with  the  known  northern  affiliations  of  the  Navaho, 

1  Northern  Elements  in  the  Mythology  of  the  Navaho,  American  Anthropologist, 
x,  p.  371,  1897. 


300 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


they  must  be  considered  either  as  a  definite  proof  of  a  survival 
of  ancient  myths  or  as  proving  a  later  connection.” 

Language  serves  to  point  out  clearly  and  with  certainty  this 
affiliation  of  the  Navaho  and  Apache  with  the  northern  Athapas¬ 
can.  Even  on  the  side  of  language,  much  seems  to  show  that 
there  was  a  comparatively  early  breaking- away  of  the  Navaho 
and  Apache,  or  the  main  elements  which  later  went  to  make  up 
these  peoples,  from  the  parent  stock  in  the  north. 

The  colorless  culture  of  the  Athapascan  has  been  pointed 
out  many  times  and  the  receptivity  of  those  of  Athapascan  origin, 
resulting  in  the  different  peoples  composing  this  division  taking 
on  and  borrowing,  almost  without  change  in  some  cases,  the 
culture  which  is  the  prevailing  type  in  the  country  where  they 
find  themselves.  In  the  southward  migration  of  the  Navaho 
and  Apache  to  their  present  home  in  New  Mexico  and  Arizona 
and  the  adjoining  part  of  Mexico,  they  left  a  culture  not  marked 
by  any  especially  positive  traits.  They  passed  through  a  country 
far  different  in  character  from  that  of  the  north  and  one  that 
possessed  a  distinct  and  far  from  negative  culture  of  its  own, — 
the  culture  of  the  Plains  or  a  mixed  culture  of  the  Plains  and  the 
Basin  Area,  —  and  finally  they  came  into  their  present  habitat, 
again  with  a  totally  different  environment  on  the  physical  side 
and  one  quite  as  distinct  on  the  side  of  custom  and  belief. 

We  therefore  rightly  expect  to  find  a  curious  result,  with  an 
Athapascan  beginning,  whatever  that  beginning  was,  the  influ¬ 
ence  of  the  Plains  type  or  a  modified  Plains  type  of  culture  as  the 
second,  and  finally  that  of  the  Pueblo  peoples  as  the  third  dom¬ 
inant  power  that  contributed  on  the  cultural  side  of  the  molding 
of  the  Navaho  tribe.  The  last  alone  can  be  determined  satis- 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  301 


factorily.  But  we  may  account  for  some  features  at  least  of  the 
culture  of  the  Navaho  as  the  result  of  the  middle  stratum  of 
influence. 

The  Navaho  on  the  purely  physical  side  are  far  from  being 
a  homogeneous  people.  Just  as  the  Apache  gradually  suffered 
a  certain  amount  of  absorption  with  several  tribes,  especially  to 
the  south,  so  the  Navaho  in  turn  counted  among  their  number 
from  very  early  times  certain  small  bands  of  peoples  mostly 
from  the  eastward. 

The  origin  legends  of  the  Navaho  represent  them  as  a  mixed 
people.  The  original  clan,  according  to  the  traditional  account, 
was  added  to  from  time  to  time  by  other  clans  of  the  Navaho, 
by  a  number  of  Ute  (a  family  of  whom  remained,  and  founded 
a  new  clan),  by  bands  of  Apache  who  in  turn  founded  clans 
among  the  Navaho,  and  by  people  from  Zuni,  Jemez,  and  other 
pueblos  driven  from  their  homes  by  famine.  These  traditions 
have  some  historical  basis  of  fact,  as  noted  by  Hodge.  1 

The  Navaho  were  a  nomadic,  hunting  people,  not  only  at 
the  start,  but  through  their  first  period  of  influence  from  the  out¬ 
side;  and  they  came  finally  into  a  territory  occupied  by  a  people 
given  to  agriculture  and  village  life.  Moreover,  the  Navaho 
were  a  people  with  very  little  social  organization  and  in  the 
Southwest  they  entered  a  territory  where  there  was  a  well-defined 
social  system.  The  Navaho  were  a  people  with  no  strongly  de- 

1  The  Early  Navaho  and  Apache,  American  Anthropologist,  vin,  p.  227,  1895.  He 
states  that  about  the  year  1560  the  Navaho  tribe  had  nineteen  clans  distributed  about  as  fol¬ 
lows:  one  Athapascan  (the  original  Navaho,  evidently  cliff-dwellers),  three  Apache,  two  Yu- 
man,  one  evidently  of  Keresan  stock,  one  possibly  of  Shoshonean,  a  single  Ute  family,  one 
doubtless  of  Tanoan  stock,  three  miscellaneous  Pueblo  clans,  and  six  of  unknown  origin. 
“We  may  safely  assume,”  he  adds,  “that  at  this  period  the  language  as  well  as  the  insti¬ 
tutions  and  industries  of  the  Navahos  underwent  the  greatest  and  most  rapid  change.” 


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veloped  religious  ceremonials,  and  the  country  of  their  final 
adoption  was  characterized  by  a  complexity  of  religious  ritual. 
Thus  we  might  go  on  pointing  out  the  obvious  and  very  striking 
contrast  between  that  which  we  assume  to  have  been  the  primitive 
form  of  culture  of  the  Navaho  and  that  into  which  they  came. 

Influence  of  Ceremonials  of  the  Pueblo  Peoples 

ON  THOSE  OF  THE  NAVAHO 

On  the  religious  and  especially  on  the  ceremonial  side  of  the 
Navaho  do  we  find  the  heterogeneous  character  very  strongly 
brought  out.  Starting  with  practically  nothing  that  may  be  said 
to  be  distinctive  of  the  Navaho  themselves,  we  find  a  large  mass 
of  ceremonials  now  practised  by  them,  every  act  of  which  has 
been  borrowed  from  another  people.  Dr  Matthews  seems  to 
think  that  the  Navaho  borrowed  little  directly  from  the  Pueblo 
peoples,  but  that  both  took  their  inspiration  from  a  common 
source. 1  The  Navaho,  according  to  their  legends,  obtained  much 
of  their  culture  from  the  cliff-dwellers  found  inhabiting  the 
pueblos  now  deserted.  As  these  cliff-dwellers  were  probably 
the  ancestors  of  the  present  Pueblo  peoples  we  can  say  that  the 
latter  inherited  their  culture  from  their  ancestors  whereas  the 
Navaho  borrowed  the  same  ideas  in  part  at  least.  This  was  a 
one-sided  bargain,  as  the  Navaho  had  nothing  to  offer  in  ex¬ 
change;  they  alone  were  the  ones  to  reap  a  benefit  from  the 
transaction. 

Obviously,  however,  a  people  with  no  distinct  clan  organi¬ 
zation,  and  accustomed  to  a  wandering  life  as  hunters  and,  with¬ 
in  very  recent  times,  as  shepherds,  could  not  use  these  borrowed 


1  Navaho  Legends,  Memoirs  American  Folk-Lore  Society,  p.  41. 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  303 


rites  without  some  adaptation,  some  alterations.  The  ceremonies 
of  the  Pueblo  peoples  were  suited  to  a  sedentary,  agricultural 
tribe  whose  main  religious  life  was  centered  around  the  act  of 
obtaining  rain  for  their  crops  in  an  arid  country.  It  has  only 
been  within  a  comparatively  few  years  that  the  Navaho  have 
taken  up  agriculture,  and  an  extensive  rainfall  was,  therefore, 
not  looked  upon  as  the  end  and  aim  of  life. 

The  contrast  between  a  sedentary  and  a  migratory  people  is 
well  brought  out  in  one  respect  in  the  examination  of  the  kiva 
of  the  Pueblos  and  the  Aogan1  of  the  Navaho.  The  former 
always  celebrate  the  secret  part  of  their  rites  in  a  room  set  apart 
for  the  purpose  in  their  village.  The  Navaho,  on  the  other  hand, 
usually  build  a  new  hut  each  time  that  an  elaborate  ceremony 
is  to  be  celebrated.  Permanency  of  structure  is  of  little  account 
among  the  Navaho. 

The  Navaho  retained,  however,  enough  of  the  religious 
ideas  of  the  north  to  cause  them  to  influence  them  in  the  south 
in  one  respect  at  least.  In  other  words,  the  cure  of  disease 
became  the  fundamental  feature  of  the  borrowed  rites.  A  cere¬ 
mony  intended  for  rain-making  would  naturally  need  some  alter¬ 
ation  in  order  to  serve  as  a  cure  of  disease.  Dr  Fewkes2  notes 
in  the  case  of  the  Hopi  that  it  is  difficult  to  separate  the  present 
object  and  real  meaning  of  rites  in  interpretation.  “The  object 
of  a  ceremony,”  he  adds,  “may  change  when  a  people  change 
their  environment,  or  as  their  prayers  change.  Ancient  rites  are 
thus  made  to  do  duty  for  purposes  wholly  new  and  thereby 
become  greatly  modified,  so  far  as  their  objects  are  concerned. 

1  For  convenience  of  reference,  I  have  employed  Dr  Matthews’s  method  of  recording 
ihe  Navaho  names. 

2  Winter  Solstice  Ceremony  at  Walpi,  American  Anthropologist ,  xi,  p.  104,  1898. 


304 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  tendency  always  is  to  adapt  old  rites  to  new  conditions, 
and  interpret  them  accordingly.”  Thus  we  naturally  expect  to 
find  among  the  Navaho  much  that  shows  the  new  purpose  of 
their  rites. 

As  this  paper  is  not  a  comparison  in  any  way  of  the  cere¬ 
monies  of  the  Navaho  with  those  of  the  Pueblo  peoples,  it  is 
not  necessary  to  point  out  in  any  great  detail  similarities  between 
the  rites  of  the  two  peoples.  To  a  certain  point,  both  sets  of 
ceremonies  go  along  almost  parallel.  As  previously  noted, 
however,  the  change  in  the  object  of  the  rites  must  necessitate  a 
different  point  of  view. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  frequent  use  of  corn-meal  and 
corn-pollen  in  the  religious  rites  of  the  Navaho.  This 
clearly  points  to  the  origin  of  the  rite.  Pollen  is  the  symbol 
of  fertility,  and  the  rite  at  bottom  is  for  rain.  The  Navaho  took 
over  the  use  of  the  corn  and  the  pollen  together  with  the  other 
features;  but  the  corn  no  longer  served  its  previous  purpose  as 
a  prayer  for  rain  and  the  ripening  of  the  crops:  it  was  used  for 
the  cure  of  disease. 


Mythology  and  Ritual 

I  shall  not  enter  at  this  time  upon  a  discussion  of  the  com¬ 
plicated  question  of  the  precedence  of  ritual  and  myth,  nor  is 
it  necessary  to  discuss  Navaho  mythology  as  a  whole.  It  is, 
however,  well  to  point  out  a  fact  noted  by  all  writers  on  this 
question;  namely,  that  all  the  main  ceremonies  of  the  Navaho 
are  accompanied  by  myths  which  explain  minutely  the  different 
acts  in  the  various  rites.  They  often  do  more:  they  account  for 
the  origin  of  the  ceremony  by  stating  how  a  god  or  hero  wan- 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  305 


dered  among  other  tribes,  learned  the  rites,  and  returned  to  teach 
them  to  his  people. 

Since,  as  we  know,  the  ceremonies  of  the  Navaho  are  bor¬ 
rowed,  their  myths,  which  often  fit  perfectly  the  rites,  must  also 
have  been  adapted  in  great  part  from  the  same  outside  sources. 
It  seems  far  more  natural  to  think  of  the  rite  as  being  taken  up 
prior  to  a  myth  explaining  this  rite.  So  that  here  at  least  we 
seem  to  find  a  rite  selected  first  and  then  the  myth  which  belongs 
to  the  rite  taken;  or,  as  in  many  cases,  it  seems  evident  a  new  one 
was  invented  to  suit  the  ceremony  in  its  altered  form.  The 
Navaho  certainly  adopted  many  of  the  myths  of  the  Pueblo 
peoples  as  their  own,  but  there  is  far  more  originality  in  many 
of  the  rite-myths  of  the  Navaho  than  in  the  corresponding  cere¬ 
monies  themselves.  This  goes  toward  proving  that  the  ritual  is 
borrowed,  and  adapted  to  the  conditions  of  an  intrusive  people, 
either  before  the  myth  explaining  the  former  rite  was  taken 
possession  of  or  a  new  one  was  created  to  meet  more  fully  the 
altered  form  of  the  ceremony. 

Shamans  and  their  Duties 

All  the  ceremonial  life  of  the  Navaho  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
medicine-man  or  shaman.  His  name  in  Navaho,  Aa/a/i,  means 
“the  singer  of  sacred  songs,”  “the  chanter.”  The  individual 
character  of  the  chants  seems  clear  in  contrast  to  any  idea  of  com¬ 
munal  origin.  These  chants  were  probably  at  one  time  in  the 
nature  of  incantations,  and  their  recital  served  in  a  magic  way 
to  constrain  the  deities  to  act  along  certain  definite  lines. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  how  firmly  this  class  of  shamans  is 
bound  together,  and  whether  or  not  there  are  classes  within  the 


3o6  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


main  division.  It  is  certain  that  we  do  not  have  any  well  reg¬ 
ulated  societies  of  priests  as  among  the  Ojibwa,  the  Sioux,  or  the 
Zuni.  The  office  of  shaman  is  in  no  way  hereditary.  The  lack 
of  any  central  control  or  government  among  the  Navaho  makes 
the  power  of  the  individual  shaman  rest  entirely  upon  his  suc¬ 
cess  in  curing  individuals.  There  is  no  centralization  of  au¬ 
thority,  and  when  a  man  does  succeed  in  making  himself  famous 
in  his  capacity  of  doctor,  his  power  is  often  very  great.  It  is 
certain  that  some  shamans  are  believed  to  have  greater  power 
than  others,  and  naturally  they  are  looked  up  to.  They  are  the 
ones  most  frequently  employed  to  celebrate  the  various  cere¬ 
monies  and  they  thus  come  in  time  to  possess  great  wealth.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  Dr  Matthews,  1  one  shaman  usually  contents  himself 
with  knowing  only  one  of  the  several  nine-days  ceremonies.  The 
different  rites  are  so  complicated  and  the  chants  so  numerous, 
that  it  is  practically  impossible  for  a  man  to  perfect  himself 
satisfactorily  in  the  machinery  of  more  than  one  of  these  long 
ceremonies. 

These  shamans  are  paid  for  their  services  by  those  in  whose 
behalf  the  rites  are  held.  The  cost  is  sometimes  heavy,  amount¬ 
ing  to  two  or  three  hundred  dollars’  worth  of  horses,  sheep,  deer¬ 
skin,  and  other  goods.  All  the  family  of  the  sick  person  con¬ 
tribute  to  the  shaman’s  fee.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  officiating 
priest  to  provide  the  permanent  paraphernalia  for  the  different 
rites,  such  as  the  undecorated  masks  and  the  various  “medicines.” 
He  does  little  active  work  in  the  preparation,  but  directs  the 
labor  of  the  others  and  sees  that  all  the  necessary  details  are  car- 

1  The  Night  Chant;  a  Navaho  Ceremony,  Memoirs  of  the  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  Anthropology ,  V,  5,  1902. 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  307 


ried  out,  a  failure  in  one  of  which  will  render  the  whole  cere¬ 
mony  of  no  value.  He  leads  in  the  chanting  in  many  cases,  and 
it  is  he  who  knows  the  order  and  the  words  of  the  large  number 
of  songs  sung  during  the  various  rites. 

When  a  person  becomes  ill,  the  first  question  to  be  answered 
is  not  so  much  the  nature  of  the  disease  as  its  cause.  Some  law 
of  the  tribe  has  been  broken,  a  spirit  has  been  offended  or 
neglected  in  some  way;  hence  the  disease  is  sent  as  a  punish¬ 
ment.  The  diagnosis  is  often  difficult,  and  a  shaman  is  usually 
called  in.  It  is  he  who  is  able  to  state  the  cause  of  the  arrival 
of  ill  health,  and  he  also  is  the  one  who  suggests  a  means  of 
propitiating  the  god,  and  hence  there  follows  a  removal  of  the 
malady.  Sometimes  it  is  necessary  to  go  back  some  distance  in 
the  history  of  the  individual  in  order  to  find  out  the  time 
when  the  offence  against  the  god  was  committed.  In  a  case 
of  one  woman  at  least  sixty  years  old,  the  shaman  had  to 
look  back  not  only  through  those  sixty  years  of  life  of  the  woman, 
but  farther  away  still  —  to  the  time  of  the  pregnancy  of  her 
mother.  At  that  time,  the  latter  had  unwittingly  looked  at  an 
eclipse  of  the  moon,  and  had  thus  broken  a  tribal  law. 

Rite  of  Ndelni 

The  facts  in  regard  to  the  breaking  of  some  tribal  taboo 
are  often  ascertained  by  the  shaman  in  a  rite  called  Ndelni,  or 
“Shivering.”  He  first  washes  his  hands,  and  sprinkles  lines  of 
corn-pollen  on  the  inside  of  his  right  hand,  along  the  length  of 
each  finger,  and  in  a  zigzag  from  the  palm  to  the  lower  arm. 
He  then  throws  himself  into  a  semi-trance  state,  or  pretends  to 
do  so.  The  hand  thus  marked  begins  slowly  to  tremble  and 


3o8  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


shiver  in  much  the  same  way  as  when  the  elbow  rests  upon  a 
nerve.  In  this  case,  however,  the  arm  is  held  out  straight  from 
the  body.  The  actions  of  the  hand  and  arm  become  more  vio¬ 
lent.  The  shaman  mutters  a  prayer,  rubs  his  eyes,  dips  his  fin¬ 
gers  into  water,  and  rubs  his  body.  After  the  trembling  becomes 
still  more  noticeable,  the  hand  finally  makes  some  movements 
which  are  interpreted  as  showing  the  cause  of  the  illness.  In 
one  instance  the  hand  dug  into  the  earth,  and  this  was  interpreted 
as  showing  that  the  patient  had  been  digging  in  a  ruin  where  he 
had  found  a  human  cranium.  He  had  touched  it,  thus  breaking 
a  tribal  taboo,  and  illness  had  resulted.  In  this  case,  I  am  quite 
sure  that  the  shaman  was  sincere  in  what  he  did.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  in  many  cases  there  is  much  humbug. 

Law  of  Exactness 

Efficacy  in  the  different  rites  can  alone  be  obtained  by 
exact  repetition  of  the  minutest  details  of  the  different  acts,  not 
only  in  the  rites  themselves,  but  in  the  preparation  of  the  objects 
used  in  the  ceremony.  In  Dr  Matthews’s  paper  on  “A  Study 
of  Butts  and  Tips,”  1  he  shows  the  necessity  of  carrying  out  the 
most  minute  rules  in  making  the  reed  cigarettes  which  are  cut, 
filled,  lighted,  and  offered  to  the  gods.  He  gives  another  strik¬ 
ing  example  of  this  necessity  of  careful  detail  in  the  preparation 
of  kledze  aze,  or  night  medicine: 2  “The  collector  enters  a  field 
at  night,  in  the  rainy  season,  during  a  violent  thunderstorm.  He 
culls  in  the  east  of  the  field  a  leaf  from  a  stalk  that  produces 
white  corn.  Passing  sunwise,  he  culls  in  the  south  a  leaf  from 


1  American  Anthropologist,  v,  pp.  345-350,  1892. 

2  The  Night  Chant,  204,  1902. 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  309 


a  stalk  of  blue  corn;  in  the  west,  a  leaf  from  a  stalk  of  yellow 
corn;  in  the  north,  a  leaf  from  a  stalk  of  variegated  corn.  .  .  . 
Each  of  these  things  must  be  collected  at  the  instant  that  it  is 
illuminated  by  a  flash  of  lightning.”  The  same  exactness  of 
order  is  seen  especially  in  the  various  chants  which  accompany 
the  ceremonies.  There  is  a  long  series  of  songs  which  must  be 
sung  in  a  prescribed  order  and  in  a  prescribed  way,  otherwise 
the  ceremony  is  of  no  avail.  The  ritual  demands  exactness,  and 
it  is  this  exactness  which  is  the  seat  often  of  the  power  to  be 
derived  from  the  rite  in  question. 

In  the  religion  of  the  Hupa,  another  Athapascan  tribe,  the 
power  rests  in  the  exact  repetition  of  certain  formulae.  This 
feature  among  the  Navaho  may  be  found  to  have  been  inherited 
by  them  from  their  Athapascan  ancestors. 

Classification  and  Character  of  Ceremonials 

The  Navaho  ceremonials  may  be  divided  into  the  major  and 
minor  classes,  the  nine-days  ceremonies  and  the  short  rites, 
which  vary  greatly  in  character  and  importance.  Although  the 
fundamental  feature  of  all  is  the  cure  of  disease,  yet  planting 
and  harvesting,  desire  for  rain,  house-building,  birth,  marriage, 
death,  and  travel  are  also  factors  in  some  of  the  rites. 

The  Navaho  ceremonials  consist  of  several  elements,  all  of 
which  are  present  in  the  longer  rites,  and  many  of  which  occur 
in  the  shorter  and  less  important  ones.  These  elements  are 
sacrifice  and  prayer,  masquerade,  and  the  dance.  As  the 
ceremonials  are  the  means  taken  to  placate  the  gods,  sacrifices 
naturally  occupy  the  most  important  place  in  the  ritual. 
Ceremonial  objects  ■ —  such  as  bits  of  feathers  of  certain  birds ; 


3io 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


pollen;  beads;  the  so-called  “kethawns,”  which  are  round 
wooden  cigarette-like  objects;  feathered  sticks;  food  usually 
prepared  according  to  some  ancient  formula;  medicines  of 
various  kinds,  including  sacred  drinks  —  are  among  the  many 
objects  offered.  The  sand  pictures  may  also  be  considered  under 
the  same  heading,  as  these  are  offered  to  the  gods,  or  serve  as  a 
sort  of  holy  place  or  altar  where  certain  acts  can  alone  take  place. 

In  connection  with  the  various  offerings  there  are  always 
prayers,  which  serve  to  point  out  to  the  deities  the  presence  of 
the  gifts  in  return  for  which  the  patient  desires  health.  The 
other  two  constant  elements  in  the  ritual  of  the  Navaho  may  be 
considered  together;  namely,  the  masks  and  the  dances  in  which 
these  are  worn.  Those  who  carry  out  the  various  requirements 
of  the  ritual  are  not  the  shamans,  as  might  be  supposed,  but 
rather  the  gods,  each  impersonated  by  a  man  wearing  a  definite 
mask.  These  masks  are  made  of  deerskin  and  are  furnished 
by  the  shaman.  They  are  painted  and  decorated  anew  for  each 
ceremony,  and  supposedly  represent  the  countenance  of  the  gods. 
When  a  man  wears  one  of  these  over  his  face,  he  is  supposed 
to  be  the  god  himself,  and  as  such  he  is  powerful  to  carry  out 
the  requirements  of  the  different  acts  in  which  this  special  god 
figures.  These  masked  men  dance  together  on  the  last  night  of 
the  long  ceremonies  in  what  might  be  called  a  “dramatization” 
of  the  myth  on  which  the  ritual  is  founded.  The  same  gods  are 
also  represented  by  the  figures  in  the  sand  pictures. 

The  festival  nature  of  ceremonials  in  general  among 
primitive  people  should  be  emphasized,  together  with  their 
great  importance  on  the  social  life  of  the  tribe.  Among  a  peo¬ 
ple  like  the  Navaho,  living  family  by  family,  disseminated  over 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  31 1 


a  wide  stretch  of  country,  with  no  towns  and  no  settlements 
larger  than  those  composed  of  two  or  three  families  at  the  most 
and  these  not  permanent,  there  is  little  opportunity  for  congre¬ 
gation  other  than  that  furnished  by  the  religious  ceremonials. 
These  are  taken  advantage  of  and  made  the  occasion  of  large 
gatherings.  Foot-races,  gambling,  and  other  games  are  in¬ 
dulged  in,  and,  although  few  of  the  visitors  take  an  active  part 
in  the  rites  themselves,  they  are  present  in  large  numbers  to 
witness  the  public  dances  on  the  last  night  of  the  long  cere¬ 
monies.  Any  participation  in  the  more  secret  rites  of  the  /zogan 
necessitates  a  payment  according  to  the  amount  of  benefit  that  it 
is  hoped  will  be  derived  from  the  rite  in  question.  Conse¬ 
quently  only  those  visitors  who  are  ill  and  are  at  the  same  time 
able  to  pay  something  to  the  shaman,  take  advantage  of  the 
opportunity  of  having  themselves  treated. 

Major  Ceremonials 

Similarities  between  those  of  the  Navaho  and  those 
of  the  Pueblo  Peoples. — ’The  main  ceremonies  of  the  Nava¬ 
ho,  as  has  been  stated,  are  nine  days  long,  and  are  composed  of 
a  constant  succession  of  rites.  The  Pueblo  peoples  also  have 
ceremonies  of  equal  length.  Dr  Fewkes 1  reports  twelve  of 
these  long  ceremonies  among  the  Hopi,  with  five  variants,  mak¬ 
ing  sixty  in  all.  Dr  Matthews 2  states  that  he  has  known  of 
seventeen  different  nine-days  ceremonies  among  the  Navaho. 
Most  of  the  details  in  these  long  successions  of  different  rites 
are  similar,  not  only  among  the  Navaho  and  Pueblo  peoples,  but 

1  Morphology  of  Tusayan  Altars,  American  Anthropologist,  x,  p.  130,  1897. 

2  The  Mountain  Chant;  a  Navaho  Ceremony.  Fifth  Report  Bureau  of  Ethnology, 
IT  158,  1883-84. 


312 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


also  in  general,  and  they  show  striking  similarities  with  the  rites 
of  the  Apache.  There  are  certain  differences,  however,  in  the 
long  ceremonies  of  the  Navaho  and  Pueblo  peoples.  Those  of 
the  former  come  only  in  late  autumn  and  winter,  whereas  many 
of  the  rites  of  the  Hopi,  for  example,  come  in  midsummer. 
There  is  no  sharp  distinction  between  masked  and  unmasked 
dances  among  the  Navaho,  as  among  the  Hopi.  The  seasonal 
element  is  not  in  great  evidence  among  the  Navaho.  Among 
the  Hopi,  the  different  Kachina  ceremonies,  or  masked  dances, 
come  from  late  December  to  July,  and  the  nine-days  ceremonies 
and  the  unmasked  dances  from  August  to  November. 

Several  of  the  long  ceremonies  of  the  Navaho  have  been 
described  in  detail,  and  it  does  not  seem  necessary,  therefore,  to 
repeat  what  has  already  been  treated  at  length.  It  may  be  in¬ 
teresting,  however,  to  note  some  of  the  objects  which  are  used 
in  the  Navaho  rites,  and  their  similarity  to  those  used  in  the 
religious  practices  of  neighboring  peoples.  The  kethawns,  or 
prayer-sticks,  of  the  Navaho  are  the  same  as  the  pahos  of  the 
Pueblos.  Many  of  them  are  identical,  even  to  the  facets  cut  at 
one  end  and  on  which  are  painted  dots  representing  eyes  and 
mouth.  These  are  regarded  as  female  among  both  peoples. 
Sex  distinctions  are  made  throughout  the  rites  of  the  Navaho 
and  Pueblo  peoples.  The  plumed  wands  are  found  among  the 
Navaho,  the  Apache,  and  the  Pueblo  peoples,  and  they  are  re¬ 
ported  among  the  northern  tribes  on  the  upper  Missouri. 1 
Pollen  and  corn-meal,  and  their  use  as  offerings  and  as  purifiers, 
the  bull-roarer,  the  sacred  water  and  other  liquids  used  as  medi¬ 
cine,  the  use  of  masks,  —  all  are  found  among  the  Navaho  and 

1  Matthews,  Plume  Sticks  among  the  Northern  Tribes,  American  Anthropologist,  u, 
p.  46,  1889. 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  313 


Apache  and  the  Pueblo  peoples  in  their  religious  practices. 
Thus  the  outfit  of  the  Navaho  shaman  is  very  much  like  that 
of  the  priest  among  the  Pueblos.  The  same  general  acts  are 
carried  out,  such  as  the  ceremonial  bath,  the  cleansing  by  vom¬ 
iting,  the  sweating,  the  ceremonial  begging,  the  rites  of  initia¬ 
tion,  the  disposal  of  objects  used  in  the  ceremonies,  often  the  car¬ 
rying  of  the  offerings  to  rude  shrines,  and  the  play  of  clowns,  in 
addition  to  other  minor  similarities  which  need  not  be  men¬ 
tioned. 

Night  Chant 

The  most  important  of  the  nine-days  ceremonies  of  the 
Navaho  is  the  Night  Chant  (Kledze  TT a/a/) ,  or  Yebityai.  It 
is  always  celebrated  in  the  late  autumn  or  early  winter.  The 
ceremony  is  composed  of  a  succession  of  different  rites,  day  after 
day  and  night  after  night,  for  the  greater  part  of  the  nine  days. 

Both  the  number  and  the  order  of  the  different  rites  in  the 
Night  Chant  are  variable.  In  fact,  we  may  say  that  there  are 
wide  limits  in  the  celebration  of  the  ritual  of  this  ceremony. 
The  number  of  rites  depends  upon  the  amount  of  money  which 
the  patient  or  patients  are  willing  and  able  to  pay  the  shaman 
and  his  assistants.  There  seems  to  be  a  minimum  number  which 
must  of  necessity  be  given,  and  all  in  addition  to  this  may  be 
omitted  without  bringing  disaster  to  the  ceremony.  It  follows, 
however,  that  the  greater  the  number  of  extra  rites  performed, 
the  greater  the  pleasure  of  the  gods,  and  consequently  the  more 
effective  the  cure. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  repeat  the  data  already  given  in 
Dr  Matthews’s  most  excellent  memoir  on  this  ceremony;  but  it 
might  be  well  to  point  out  certain  other  variants  in  the  different 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


3H 

rites  making  up  this  ceremony,  which  were  witnessed  by  me  in 
a  single  celebration  of  the  Night  Chant.  This  celebration  took 
place  in  the  Chaco  canyon  near  Pueblo  Bonito,  in  1901. 

In  order  to  compare  the  ceremony  as  described  by  Dr 
Matthews  with  the  one  witnessed  by  me,  I  have  arranged  the 
various  rites  occurring  on  the  different  days  in  the  two  versions 
in  parallel  columns. 

Comparison  of  the  Principal  Events  of  the  Ceremony  of 
the  Night  Chant  as  witnessed  by  Dr  Wash¬ 
ington  Matthews  and  the  Writer 

Dr  Matthews  A.  M.  Tozzer 


FIRST  DAY 


Evening:  — 

Circle  kethawns. 

Consecration  of  lodge. 

Talisman  of  Yebltfai. 

SECOND 

Alorning:  — 

Kethawns  (4  cigarettes). 

Sudatory,  in  east. 

Afternoon :  — 

Rite  of  Succor. 

Dry  painting. 

Evening:  — 

Rite  of  Evergreen  Dress. 

THIRD 

Morning:  — 

Kethawns  (4  to  10  cigarettes,  2 
long  cigarettes). 

Sudatory,  in  south. 


Evening:  — 

Consecration  of  lodge. 

Talisman  of  YeblUai. 

Circle  kethawns. 

DAY 

Morning:  — 

Sudatory  out  of  doors,  in  east. 

Afternoon:  — 

Kethawns  (4  cigarettes,  4  ke¬ 
thawns,  2  long  cigarettes,  2  cig¬ 
arettes). 

Evening:  — 

Rite  of  Evergreen  Dress. 

DAY 

Morning:  — 

Sudatory  out  of  doors,  in  south. 

Kethawns  (4  cigarettes,  2  cigar¬ 
ettes,  4  kethawns,  2  long  cigar¬ 
ettes). 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS 


3i5 


Afternoon:  — 

Kethawns  (4  cigarettes,  4X12 
kethawns) . 

Evening:  — 

Offering  of  4X12  kethawns  in 
basket. 

FOURTH 

Morning:  — 

Kethawns  (8  cigarettes). 

Sudatory,  in  west. 

Afternoon:  — 

Amole  bath. 

Dog  kethawns. 

Rite  of  Tree  and  Mask. 

Evening:  — 

Vigil  of  the  gods. 

Banquet. 


Afternoon:  — 

Preparation  of  medicine  by  girl. 
Initiation  of  boy  and  girl. 

Evening:  — 

Rite  of  Tree  and  Mask. 

DAY 

Morning:  — 

Kethawn  (1  long  cigarette). 
Sudatory  out  of  doors,  in  west. 
Kethawns  (8  cigarettes). 

Amole  bath. 

Afternoon:  — 

Kethawns  (4  cigarettes,  4X12 
kethawns). 

Evening:  — 

Talisman  of  Yebitsai. 

Offering  of  4X12  kethawns  in 
basket. 

Vigil  of  the  gods. 

Banquet. 


Morning:  — 

Kethawns  (1  long). 
Sudatory,  in  north. 

Afternoon:  — 

Small  dry  painting. 
Evening:  — 

Initiation  (first  time). 


FIFTH  DAY 

Morning:  — 

Dog  kethawn  (1  long  cigarette). 
Sudatory  out  of  doors,  in  north. 
Kethawns  (8  cigarettes). 


Evening:  — 

Initiation  (first  time). 


SIXTH  DAY 


Morning:  — 

First  of  large  dry  paintings. 
Rite  with  painting. 

Begging  gods. 

Evening:  — 

Rehearsal. 


Morning:  — 

First  of  large  dry  paintings. 
Manufacture  of  gourd  rattle. 
Rite  with  painting. 

Begging  gods. 

Evening:  — 

Initiation  (second  time). 
Rehearsal. 


3 1 6 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


SEVENTH  DAY 


Morning:  — ■ 

Second  of  large  dry  paintings. 
Rite  with  painting. 

Evening:  — 

Rehearsal. 


Morning:  — 

Second  of  large  dry  paintings. 
Rite  with  painting. 

Evening:  — 

Rehearsal. 


EIGHTH  DAY 


M  orning:  — 

Third  of  large  dry  paintings. 
Rite  with  painting. 

Toilet  of  the  gods. 

Afternoon :  — 

Initiation  (second  time). 

Rite  of  Succor. 

Evening:  — 

Rehearsal. 


M  orning:  — • 

Third  of  large  dry  paintings. 
Rite  with  painting. 

Toilet  of  the  gods. 

Afternoon:  — 

Rite  of  Succor. 

Evening:  — 

Initiation  (third  time). 
Rehearsal. 


NINTH  DAY 


Morning:  — 

Preparation  of  properties. 
Kethawns  (3  cigarettes). 
Arrangement  of  masks. 
Rite  of  Succor. 

Afternoon :  — 

Preparation  of  dancers. 


Evening:  — 

Rite  of  First  Dancers. 
Dances. 

Work  in  lodge. 


Morning:  — 

Kethawns  (3  cigarettes). 
Initiation  (fourth  time). 

Afternoon:  — 

Preparation  of  properties. 
Arrangement  of  masks. 
Preparation  of  dancers. 
Rite  of  Succor. 

Evening:  — 

Rite  of  First  Dancers. 
Dances. 

Work  in  lodge. 


In  comparing  the  two  columns  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is 
a  settled  order  for  certain  rites  in  the  ceremony,  but  some  of  the 
more  or  less  auxiliary  ones  may  come  at  various  times  during  the 
nine  days.  I  have  spoken  of  the  carefulness  of  detail  and  the 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  317 


necessity  of  a  certain  order.  This  applies  to  the  various  songs 
and  chants  and  to  the  rites  considered  as  units  rather  than  to 
the  ceremony  as  a  whole.  This  point  will  be  brought  out  by 
reviewing  briefly  some  of  the  additions,  omissions,  and  substitu¬ 
tions  of  the  various  rites  as  given  by  Dr  Matthews  in  his  account 
of  this  ceremony.  I  shall  follow  the  order  in  which  the  different 
rites  occur. 

Those  of  the  first  evening  were  similar,  although  the  sequence 
was  different.  In  the  sets  of  kethawns  made  and  offered 
to  the  gods  during  the  days  of  the  ceremony  there  was  often  a 
change  in  the  character  and  the  number  throughout  the  two  par¬ 
allel  ceremonies. 1  These  differences  will  be  noted  by  compar¬ 
ing  the  two  columns.  The  rite  of  succor  and  the  small  sand 
picture  of  the  second  day  were  omitted  in  the  celebration  which 
I  witnessed.  The  patients  did  not  feel  that  they  could  afford  to 
pay  the  shaman  the  extra  fee  demanded.  In  the  late  afternoon 
of  the  third  day  there  was  a  general  clearing  up  of  the  /zogan. 
Several  holes  in  the  wall  were  stopped  up,  the  floor  was  swept, 
and  the  ashes  of  the  fire  removed.  After  the  hut  had  thus  been 
cleared,  a  girl  of  about  ten  came  in  bringing  a  stone  metate  and 
mano  or  rubber.  She  took  her  place  at  the  west  of  the  fire, 
placed  the  metate  on  a  sheepskin,  and  began  to  grind  up  the 
feathers  of  a  yellow  bird  (sidibeta)  furnished  by  the  shaman. 
This  was  medicine  to  be  administered  later  to  the  two  patients 
and  it  was  efficacious  only  when  prepared  by  a  virgin.  In 
the  evening  of  this  day,  the  young  girl  who  had  ground  the 

1 1  have  used  kethawn  as  a  general  term,  including  the  cigarette  and  the  kethawn 
proper.  By  cigarette,  I  mean  the  reed  which  is  filled  and  symbolically  lighted;  by  kethawn 
proper,  the  solid  wooden  sticks  which  are  designated  as  to  sex. 


3 1 8  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

feathers  and  a  young  boy  were  put  through  the  rite  of  initiation 
similar  in  every  point  to  that  described  by  Dr  Matthews. 1 

The  rite  of  the  Tree  and  Mask  came  on  the  evening  of  the 
third  day  rather  than  on  the  afternoon  of  the  fourth.  The  large 
sets  of  kethawns  used  in  the  basket,  and  made  on  the  evening 
of  the  third  day  in  Matthews’s  account,  were  prepared  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  fourth  day.  The  sets  were,  however,  similar 
in  number  and  character.  These  were  administered  on  the 
fourth  night.  The  picture  of  the  Trembling  Place,  occur¬ 
ring  on  the  fifth  day  in  the  earlier  account,  was  omitted.  The 
initiation  rite  was  celebrated  four  different  times,  not  including 
that  when  the  boy  and  girl  were  initiated  as  contrasted  with  a 
twofold  celebration  in  the  older  account.  This  repetition  was 
probably  due  solely  to  the  fact  that  there  were  more  people  at 
the  later  time  who  desired  it  and  were  able  to  pay  the  fee  de¬ 
manded.  Dr  Matthews  states 2  that  a  person  must  go  through 
this  rite  four  times  before  he  is  allowed  to  impersonate  one  of 
the  gods.  I  know  from  personal  experience  that  a  single  cele¬ 
bration  enables  the  initiate  to  participate  in  the  rites,  wear  a 
mask,  and  personate  one  of  the  gods.  I  shall  not  pause  to  ex¬ 
plain  this  initiation,  as  Dr  Matthews’s  rite  was  exactly  similar 
to  the  ones  I  witnessed.  It  is  interesting  to  note,  however,  the 
presence  of  such  a  rite  in  the  midst  of  a  ceremony  primarily  for 
curing  the  sick. 

I  have  described  elsewhere 3  the  character  of  the  gourd 
rattle  manufactured  on  the  morning  of  the  sixth  day.  This 

1  The  Night  Chant,  495-511. 

2  Ibid.,  507. 

3  A  Note  on  Star-Lore  among  the  Navaho,  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore ,  xxi, 
pp.  2S-32,  1908. 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  319 


rattle  contained  holes  made  to  represent  stars,  and  was  used  in 
the  chants  sung  during  the  last  four  nights  of  the  ceremonial. 

At  odd  moments  during  the  latter  days  of  the  ceremony, 
certain  individuals  employed  the  shaman  in  their  own  behalf. 
These  people  had  minor  ailments  and  paid  the  shaman  a  small 
sum,  or  made  him  a  gift,  in  return  for  which  he  endeavored  to 
cure  them.  In  one  case,  a  woman  became  hysterical.  Her 
friends  assured  me  that  the  gods  were  angry  because  I  had  been 
granted  certain  privileges,  and  had  visited  their  displeasure,  not 
upon  me,  but  upon  a  woman  whom  I  had  never  seen  before. 
Straightway  I  was  advised  to  do  my  share  toward  curing  this 
woman.  She  came  into  the  Aogan,  and  lay  down  at  the  west  of 
the  fire.  I  covered  her  with  several  yards  of  calico  which  I  had 
bought.  The  shaman  then  took  two  of  the  feathered  sticks  used 
in  the  sudatory,  and  the  sand  pictures,  and  rubbed  the  body  of 
the  woman,  turning  and  twisting  her  until  the  hysterics  disap¬ 
peared.  She  then  rose,  took  half  the  calico,  and  gave  the  shaman 
the  other  half.  I  was  able  to  quell  an  epidemic  of  hysteria  by 
announcing  that  I  had  no  more  calico. 

Apart  from  the  sand  paintings,  which  I  shall  describe  later, 
the  only  other  important  difference  between  the  ceremony  as  de¬ 
scribed  by  Dr  Matthews  and  that  witnessed  by  me  was  in  the 
sudatory  or  sweat-house.  Dr  Matthews 1  mentions  the  alterna¬ 
tives —  four  sweat-houses,  one  sweat-house,  or  the  konnike  or  out¬ 
door  sudorific.  I  did  not  see  the  ceremony  where  the  sweating 
rite  occurs  in  a  house  built  for  the  occasion.  In  the  ceremony 
of  1901  the  outdoor  sudorific  was  employed.  As  Dr  Matthews’s 
notes  are  not  full  in  regard  to  this  variety  of  the  rite,  I  add  a 


1  The  Night  Chant,  243-256. 


320 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


few  additional  facts  concerning  the  outdoor  sweating  ceremony. 
This  act  was  performed  four  times  —  once  each  morning,  be¬ 
ginning  with  the  third  day.  Each  time,  two  shallow  grave¬ 
like  holes  were  dug,  about  a  hundred  feet  distant  from  the 
/zogan,  first  to  the  east,  then,  on  successive  mornings,  in  turn  to 
the  south,  the  west,  and  the  north  of  the  ceremonial  Aogan. 
There  were,  as  has  been  stated,  two  patients,  and  these  occasioned 
the  two  holes.  These  were  about  six  inches  deep,  five  feet  long, 
and  two  feet  wide,  with  ends  pointing  east  and  west  in  the  first 
instance.  In  my  description,  the  directions  will  apply  only  to 
the  first  or  eastern  celebration.  In  the  two  holes  a  quantity  of 
juniper  and  pinon  was  burned.  After  the  fire  had  died  down, 
seven  layers  of  different  woods  and  herbs  were  spread  over  the 
glowing  coals.  The  roots  of  the  plants  all  pointed  toward  the 
east,  and  therefore  away  from  the  Aogan.  After  the  prepara¬ 
tions  were  completed,  the  shaman,  two  assistants,  and  the  two 
patients  came  from  the  /zogan  to  the  two  smoking  green  mounds. 
The  latter  two  sat  down,  the  woman  behind  the  man,  to  the  west 
of  the  two  heaps  of  green,  and  proceeded  to  remove  their  clothes. 
The  shaman  carried  a  basket  of  ground  corn  in  his  hands  from 
which  he  sprinkled  a  line  of  the  powder  in  a  circle  around  the 
two  mounds,  leaving  openings  two  feet  wide  on  the  eastern  and 
western  sides  of  the  circle.  Directly  inside  the  first  circular 
line  he  sprinkled  another  of  white  corn-pollen.  He  then  took 
from  a  second  basket  the  twelve  feathered  sticks,  which  were 
also  used  around  the  sand  paintings  (see  plate  l).  He  placed 
the  six  blue  sticks  at  even  intervals  between  the  two  lines  of  pol¬ 
len  on  the  north  side  of  the  circle.  These  were  for  the  female 
patients,  and  were  to  keep  off  the  evil  spirits.  The  six  black 


MODEL,  OF  SAND  PAINTING  OF  THE  FOUR  RAIN  GODS 


Tozzer  - Navaho  Ceremonials  Plate  I 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  321 


sticks  were  placed  on  the  south  side  of  the  circle,  and  were  for 
the  male  patient.  At  this  stage  the  two  entered  the  circle  from 
the  western  opening.  The  man  lay  down  on  the  mound  to  the 
south ;  the  woman,  on  the  one  to  the  north,  both  with  their  heads 
toward  the  hogan.  Two  assistants  then  entered  the  circle  from 
the  western  opening,  using  great  care  not  to  step  on  the  lines 
of  pollen,  and  covered  the  two  patients  with  blankets.  The 
shaman  and  his  assistants  sat  on  the  ground  to  the  south  of  the 
circle,  and  kept  up  a  continuous  round  of  singing.  The  shaman 
next  placed  a  gourd  in  front  of  him  which  he  filled  with  an 
herb  (zani/)  mixed  with  water,  and  on  top  he  sprinkled  some 
ground  yellow  corn.  In  a  cup  he  prepared  another  drink 
(ketlo),  consisting  of  some  bright  green  substance  the  nature 
of  which  has  not  been  ascertained.  When  these  preparations 
were  complete,  the  singing  was  started,  accompanied  by  a  gourd 
rattle.  After  three  seemingly  distinct  songs  had  been  sung,  the 
shaman  entered  the  circle  from  the  west,  lifted  the  blankets  from 
over  the  heads  of  the  patients,  and  washed  their  faces  with  the 
contents  of  the  cup.  Another  period  of  singing  followed,  after 
which  two  masked  men  came  from  the  /togan.  They  repre¬ 
sented  LZastreyal/i  (the  most  important  character  appearing  in 
the  Night  Chant)  and  Tfasfrebaad  (one  of  the  important  female 
gods) . 1  The  two  entered  the  circle  from  the  west  and  removed 
the  blankets  from  the  two  patients.  They  were  by  this  time  in 
a  violent  perspiration.  Each  sat  upright  on  the  mound  as 
LTastreyalfi  took  the  cup  prepared  by  the  shaman  and  marked 
with  the  contents  the  bottom  of  the  feet,  the  palms  of  the  hands 
(which  were  held  upright  in  the  lap),  the  breast,  the  back,  and 

1  For  full  description  of  these  gods,  see  Matthews,  The  Night  Chant,  26-31, 


64-72. 


322 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


the  heads  of  both  patients,  besides  placing  a  particle  in  their 
mouths.  He  finally  had  them  drink  from  the  cup.  The  two 
patients  then  washed  themselves  with  the  remaining  contents. 
iLastjeyal/i  next  collected  the  twelve  feathered  sticks  which  had 
been  placed  around  the  circle.  He  selected  the  two  which  had 
stood  on  either  side  of  the  eastern  opening  of  the  circle,  and  gave 
the  remainder  to  the  shaman.  With  these  two  sticks,  one  in 
each  hand,  he  rubbed  down  the  legs,  the  arms,  and  the  body  of 
one  patient  after  the  other.  Between  each  point  of  application, 
he  held  them  up  and  pointed  them  to  the  east.  The  other  masked 
man  then  repeated  the  same  acts,  with  the  same  two  feathered 
sticks,  over  the  two  patients.  Ha.stseya.lti  next  took  the  gourd 
and  made  the  patients  drink  from  it,  first  the  man,  then  the 
woman,  and  the  same  repeated.  The  two  men  representing  the 
gods  then  returned  to  the  hogan.  The  others  formed  a  proces¬ 
sion  and  marched  slowly  in  single  file  back  to  the  same  place. 
As  soon  as  the  two  patients  and  the  others  had  left  the  mounds, 
helpers  gathered  up  the  green  shrubs  and  the  evergreen,  and 
carried  all  to  a  short  distance  to  the  north  of  the  Aogan,  where 
they  deposited  them  on  a  bush.  The  coals  were  also  raked  into 
two  piles  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  shallow  holes,  and  what  fire 
remained  was  put  out  with  water.  The  rite  inside  the  hogan 
at  the  completion  of  these  acts  was  similar  to  that  described  by 
Matthews 1  when  a  sweat-house  is  used. 

With  the  exception  of  the  differences  noted  above  and  those 
connected  with  the  sand  pictures  about  to  be  described,  the  two 
celebrations  of  this  Night  Chant  were  exactly  similar  on  the 


The  Night  Chant,  If  347. 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  323 


side  of  the  rites  themselves.  I  am  unable  to  compare  the  two 
on  the  side  of  the  songs  and  chants,  which  are  given  so  fully  in 
the  account  by  Dr  Matthews. 

Sand  Paintings 

The  sand  pictures  of  the  Navaho  have  been  many  times  de¬ 
scribed  and  pictured.  It  is  not  my  intention,  therefore,  to  con¬ 
sider  them  in  detail,  their  method  of  manufacture,  nor  the  rites 
held  in  connection  with  them.  I  desire  only  to  mention  certain 
variants  of  the  pictures  which  have  come  to  my  notice.  These 
dry  paintings  or  sand  pictures  are  the  most  important  single 
feature  of  the  ceremonials  of  the  Navaho.  The  largest  of  them 
are  made  on  the  three  last  days  of  the  nine-days  ceremonies. 
They  differ  in  the  different  ceremonies,  and  often  in  the  same 
rite. 

Picture  of  the  Four  Rain- Gods.  —  In  the  celebration 
of  the  Night  Chant  in  1901,  the  first  picture,  coming  on  the  sixth 
day  of  the  ceremony,  was  entirely  different  from  that  of  the 
“whirling  logs”  described  and  pictured  by  Matthews. 1  This 
latter  is  probably  the  usual  picture  made  at  this  time,  as  Steven¬ 
son  saw  a  similar  painting  of  the  “whirling  logs”  in  1885, 2  and 
Curtis  gives  a  slightly  different  variant. 3  The  sand  picture 
made  as  the  first  of  the  three  in  the  ceremony  which  I  witnessed 
is,  therefore,  not  the  usual  one  painted  at  this  time,  and  I  have 
never  seen  it  described.  I  cannot  give  any  reason  for  its  substi¬ 
tution  in  place  of  the  usual  picture.  Plate  I  shows  this  painting, 
taken  from  a  photograph  of  a  model  in  the  Peabody  Museum; 


1  The  Night  Chant,  513,  plate  vi. 

2  Ceremonial  of  Hasjelti,  Eighth  Report ,  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  1886-87,  plate  cxxi. 

3  The  North  American  Indian,  1,  p.  112,  1907. 


324 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


plate  II,  taken  from  a  colored  drawing,  gives  a  better  idea  of  the 
same  picture. 

The  completed  painting  measured  roughly  nine  by  thirteen 
feet.  Twelve  feathered  sticks  (int/ia)  or  plumed  wands  were 
placed  around  three  sides  of  the  picture.  These  are  shown  in 
plate  i.  Dr  Matthews 1  mentions  that  there  were  eight  of  these 
used  around  the  pictures  which  he  saw.  In  this  set  of  twelve, 
six  were  painted  black  with  white  tops,  and  were  for  the  male 
patient;  the  other  six  were  colored  blue  with  yellow  tops,  and 
were  for  the  female.  Each  stick  was  decorated  with  two  tufts 
of  ten  turkey-feathers  each,  tied  around  the  stick  and  pointing 
upward.  From  each  tuft  of  feathers  there  hung  down  one  small 
feather  taken  from  the  breast  of  an  eagle,  the  so-called  “breath- 
feather.”  The  shaman  stuck  these  twelve  wands  in  the  founda¬ 
tion  sand  just  outside  the  rainbow  border,  four  on  each  of  the 
three  sides.  The  eastern  side  had  no  border,  and  consequently 
no  feathered  wands,  as  none  other  than  good  spirits  lived  in  the 
east  and  no  protection  was  needed  from  that  quarter. 

The  model  (plate  i)  also  shows  the  small  gourd  vessel,  with 
the  sprig  of  cedar  on  top,  resting  on  the  hands  of  the  rainbow 
goddess  of  the  border. 

The  heads  of  the  four  figures  of  this  painting  point  toward 
the  east.  The  four  main  personages  shown  are  the  Hastrebaka 
or  simply  Yebaka.  In  this  special  rite  their  function  is  con¬ 
nected  more  or  less  closely  with  the  rain.  The  first  figure,  col¬ 
ored  black,  belongs  to  the  north;  the  second,  blue,  to  the  south; 
the  third,  yellow,  to  the  west;  and  the  fourth,  white,  to  the  east. 
These  gods  are  male,  and  are  shown  as  wearing  the  blue  painted 


1  The  Night  Chant,  279-284. 


SAND  PAINTING  OF  THE  FOUR  RAIN  GODS 


o 

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x 

m 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  325 


deerskin  mask  which  is  seen  in  many  of  the  rites  of  this  cere¬ 
mony  of  the  Yebitfai.  They  are  represented  as  coming  from 
a  cloud  from  the  south,  blue,  and  this,  in  turn,  rises  from  a 
three-colored  line  denoting  the  other  three  cardinal  points. 
Each  figure  carries  in  his  right  hand  a  gourd  rattle  painted 
white,  and,  suspended  from  the  same  wrist,  a  tobacco-pouch 
elaborately  decorated,  and  having  in  the  center  a  representation 
of  the  aboriginal  form  of  stone  pipe.  In  this  bag  the  god  car¬ 
ries  a  ray  of  the  sun  with  which  to  light  his  pipe.  The  god  then 
smokes  the  pipe,  and  from  the  clouds  thus  formed  there  comes 
the  rain.  The  combination  of  the  ray  of  the  sun  inside  the 
bag  and  the  rain  which  these  gods  are  supposed  to  send,  is  seen 
in  the  rainbow-colors  (red  and  blue)  which  outline  the  bag, 
and  which  decorate  the  four  points  projecting  from  the  bag. 

From  the  left  hand  of  each  figure  hangs  a  round  water- 
bottle,  the  emblem  of  his  office,  and  here,  too,  as  you  would 
expect,  we  find  the  rainbow-colors  in  the  line  from  the  top  of 
the  water-bottle  to  the  hand.  The  line  around  the  wrist  and 
knees  also  shows  the  same  colors.  From  the  elbows  and  wrists 
hang  red  and  black  ornaments  the  nature  of  which  I  have  been 
unable  to  find  out.  The  yellow  and  blue  line,  by  which  these 
objects  are  suspended,  represents  strips  of  fox-skin.  The  deco¬ 
ration  at  the  left  side  of  the  head  is  a  combination  of  owl  and 
eagle  feathers.  Each  god  wears  ear-pendants  and  necklace  of 
turquoise  and  coral.  From  the  left  of  the  top  of  the  neck  hangs 
a  fox-skin.  The  yellow  line  below  the  mouth,  a  counterpart 
of  a  line  of  the  same  color  at  the  bottom  of  the  masks  which 
are  worn  by  the  Indians  in  this  same  ceremony,  represents  the 
yellow  evening  light. 


326  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Coming  to  the  lower  part  of  the  figures,  we  find  hanging 
from  the  left  side  a  bag.  The  four  white  lines  which  run  from 
the  bag  to  the  figure  are  the  cotton  cords  by  which  it  is  attached 
to  the  wrist.  It  is  only  in  the  decoration  of  this  bag  and  the 
bottom  of  the  skirt  that  the  individual  skill  and  inclination  of 
the  painter  are  allowed  full  play.  Every  other  line  in  the  en¬ 
tire  picture  is  prescribed  and  unchangeable. 

The  red  and  blue  stripe  running  around  the  north,  west, 
and  east  sides  of  the  picture,  is  still  again  the  rainbow.  It  is 
pictured  as  female,  with  its  head  at  the  northeast,  and  feet  and 
skirt  at  the  southeast,  corner  of  the  painting.  The  head  is 
square,  and  represents  the  square  mask  worn  by  a  man  imper¬ 
sonating  a  female  god.  This  mask  covers  only  the  front  part 
of  the  face,  whereas  the  male  mask  fits  over  the  entire  head,  and 
in  the  sand  pictures  is  shown  as  round.  From  the  top  of  the 
head  of  this  rainbow  goddess  projects  a  turkey-feather,  the  white 
lines  representing  the  strings  by  which  the  feather  is  tied  on. 
The  ear-pendants,  the  yellow  line  at  the  base  of  the  mask,  and 
the  necklace  are  the  same  as  are  seen  on  the  four  other  gods. 
The  skirt  and  bag,  together  with  the  rainbow-colors  at  the  wrists 
and  knees,  are  also  identical  with  those  on  the  other  figures.  I 
have  described  elsewhere  the  rite  carried  out  in  connection  with 
this  painting.  1 

Picture  of  the  Naakhai  Dance.  —  The  second  sand  pic¬ 
ture  in  the  celebration  of  the  Night  Chant  in  1901  also  varied 
from  that  given  by  Dr  Matthews,  although  it  was  not  radically 

1  A  Navajo  Sand  Picture  of  the  Rain  Gods  and  its  Attendant  Ceremony,  Proceedings 
of  the  International  Congress  of  Americanists,  Thirteenth  Session,  pp.  150-156,  New  York, 
1902. 


Tozzer  Navaho  Ceremonials 


Plate  III 


SAND  PAINTING  OF  THE  NAAKHAI  DANCE 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  327 


different,  as  in  the  first  case.  Both  Matthews 1  and  Stevenson2 
show  two  rows  of  figures.  In  Stevenson’s  drawing  the  rows  of 
figures  are  placed  head  to  head;  in  the  picture  given  by 
Matthews  the  figures  all  face  the  same  way.  Above  the  feet 
of  the  upper  row  in  the  former,  and  above  the  heads  in  the  latter 
drawing,  there  is  a  double  line  of  blue  and  yellow.  Below  the 
second  row  in  both  versions  there  is  a  line  of  black  and  yellow. 
The  first  line  of  figures  shows  six  female  dancers  with  square 
masks,  and  at  the  left  of  this  line,  To‘nenili,  the  Water  Sprinkler. 
The  second  line  shows  six  male  dancers  with  the  round  masks, 
and  at  the  left  Lfastreyal/i  or  Yebitrai. 

My  variant  of  this  picture  is  shown  in  plate  III.  There 
are  four  rows  of  figures,  twelve  in  each  line,  representing  alter¬ 
nately  male  and  female  dancers.  Each  row  stands  on  a  different 
colored  line.  The  latter  have  the  following  colors,  starting 
from  the  east  or  open  side:  the  first,  white,  belonging  to  the 
east;  the  second,  yellow,  to  the  south;  the  third,  blue,  to  the 
west;  and  the  fourth,  black,  to  the  north.  The  only  exception 
to  the  rule  of  alternate  male  and  female  figures  is  in  the  south¬ 
east  corner,  where  JTastreyal/i  replaces  the  ordinary  figure.  The 
details  of  the  figures  are  exactly  the  same  as  those  in  the  draw¬ 
ing  by  Matthews.  The  bags  alone  show  individual  variation, 
according  to  the  fancy  of  the  painter.  The  rite  in  connection 
with  this  picture  was  exactly  similar  to  that  described  in  the 
other  accounts. 

Picture  with  the  “Fringe  Mouths.”  — The  third  pic¬ 
ture  (plate  IV),  which  came  on  the  eighth  day  of  the  ceremony, 


1  The  Night  Chant,  plate  vii. 

2  Ceremonial  of  Hasjelti,  plate  cxxii. 


328  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


was  exactly  like  the  one  described  and  figured  by  Matthews, 1 
by  Stevenson, 2  and,  with  slight  variations,  by  Curtis. 3  Even 
to  the  minutest  details  I  could  not  detect  the  slightest  change 
other  than  in  the  bags,  which,  as  stated  before,  are  allowed 
decoration  according  to  the  individual  taste.  It  has  been  sug¬ 
gested  that  these  bags  may  show  an  imitation  of  the  porcupine- 
quill  work  of  the  Ute.  It  is  clear  that  the  Navaho  were  in 
intimate  relations  with  the  Ute.  They  have  a  myth  accounting 
for  the  origin  of  the  Ute,  and  showing  them  as  an  offshoot  of  the 
N  avaho. 4 

Returning  to  the  question  of  the  striking  similarity,  I  might 
almost  say  identity,  of  this  picture  as  figured  by  Matthews  and 
that  shown  on  plate  IV,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  Dr  Matthews 
has  the  following  to  say  on  the  point  of  the  lack  of  variation  of 
the  same  rite  at  any  two  times:5  “The  shamans  declare  that 
these  pictures  are  transmitted  unaltered  from  year  to  year  and 

from  generation  to  generation . It  may  be  doubted  if  such 

is  strictly  the  case.  No  permanent  design  is  anywhere  preserved 
by  them  and  there  is  no  final  authority  in  the  tribe.  The  pictures 
are  carried  from  winter  to  winter  in  the  fallible  memories  of 
men.”  To  my  mind  this  is  not  a  matter  of  doubt.  As  proof  of 
this  I  would  say  that  Dr  Matthews  collected  the  material  for 
his  memoir  twenty  years  before  the  picture  which  I  give  was 
painted.  Still  this  sand  picture  —  which  he  calls  “the  Gods 
with  the  Fringe-Mouths,”  and  which  came  on  the  eighth  day  of 

1  The  Night  Chant,  plate  vm. 

2  Ceremonial  of  Hasjelti,  plate  cxxm. 

3  The  North  American  Indian ,  I,  p.  122. 

4  Matthews,  Origin  of  the  Utes,  American  Antiquarian,  vii,  pp.  271-274,  1885. 

5  The  Night  Chant,  |f  164. 


SAND  PAINTING  OF  THE  “FRINGE-MOUTHS” 


Tozzer — Navaho  Ceremonials  Plate  IV 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  329 


the  ceremony — is  the  identical  picture,  even  in  many  minor 
details,  with  one  which  was  made  on  the  eighth  day  of  a  similar 
ceremony  witnessed  twenty  years  after  and  at  least  a  hundred 
miles  to  the  east  of  where  Dr  Matthews  worked.  For  two 
decades  at  least  we  can  prove  that  the  designs  have  remained 
unchanged;  and  the  past  twenty  years  have  been  lived  in  close 
contact  with  the  whites,  many  of  whom  have  done  their  utmost 
to  make  the  Navaho  put  away  and  forget  his  former  beliefs 
and  ceremonies. 

Picture  of  the  God  of  the  Whirlwind.  —  In  addition 
to  the  sand  pictures  made  in  connection  with  the  several  nine- 
days’  ceremonies,  there  are  often  smaller  and  far  less  elaborate 
sand  pictures  made  to  serve  less  important  rites.  Among  the 
smaller  sand  paintings  is  one  called  Niltrebeyika/,  or  “Picture 
of  the  Whirlwind.”  Plate  V  is  taken  from  a  photograph  of  this 
sand  picture  on  the  floor  of  the  /zogan,  looking  from  the  head 
to  the  feet  of  the  figure:  consequently  the  lower  part  of  the 
body  is  in  bad  perspective.  The  figure  represents  the  God  of 
the  Whirlwind.  The  head  points  toward  the  east.  The  face  of 
the  mask  is  a  dark  brown.  It  has  across  the  top  a  white  line,  and 
on  each  side  a  red  line  broken  by  white  dots,  and  the  usual  yel¬ 
low  line  at  the  bottom.  From  the  top  of  the  mask  projects  a 
“breath”  feather  represented  as  being  tied  with  white  cotton 
strings.  The  neck  is  painted  blue,  with  four  transverse  red  lines. 
The  usual  coral  and  turquoise  ear-pendants  and  necklace  are 
indicated.  The  body  of  the  figure  is  black  with  a  white  border. 
The  usual  red  and  blue  lines  from  the  wrists  and  elbows,  to 
which  are  suspended  the  black  and  red  objects  outlined  in  white, 
are  found.  These  lines  represent  strips  of  fox-skin.  The  bag 


330 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


at  the  side  shows  the  usual  elaborate  design.  The  rainbow  gar¬ 
ters  appear,  but  the  feet  are  represented  as  bare,  not  covered 
with  the  usual  moccasins.  The  upper  of  the  two  serpents  at 
the  top  has  a  blue  body  and  a  yellow  border  and  spots,  and 
belongs  to  the  south.  The  upper  of  the  two  serpents  at  the 
bottom  has  a  yellow  body  and  a  blue  border  and  spots,  and 
belongs  to  the  west.  The  lower  of  the  two  at  the  top  has  a  black 
body  and  a  white  border  and  spots.  He  belongs  to  the  north. 
The  lower  of  the  two  at  the  bottom  has  a  white  body  and  a  black 
border,  and  he  is  connected  with  the  east.  The  law  of  con¬ 
trasting  colors  is  well  brought  out  here.  What  is  white  with 
a  black  border  in  one  case  is  black  with  a  white  border  in  an¬ 
other.  The  serpent  at  the  right  of  the  figure  has  a  black  body 
and  a  white  border.  The  one  at  the  left  has  a  blue  body  and  a 
yellow  border,  representing  respectively  the  north  and  south. 
The  god  is  shown  dressed  in  a  suit  covered  with  stone  arrow- 
points,  two  of  which  are  shown  fastened  to  the  top  of  the  mask, 
and  five  on  either  side  of  the  body,  the  latter  sets  being  outlined 
in  white.  The  position  of  these  along  the  body  suggests  a 
whirling  motion.  Sometimes  a  more  elaborate  picture  is  made 
with  four  figures  in  place  of  one,  gods  painted  blue,  white,  and 
yellow,  as  well  as  black. 

The  rite  of  the  Whirlwind  God  is  said  to  be  carried  out 
to  cure  any  one  with  a  twisted  body  or  bent  leg.  The  sick  per¬ 
son  has  arrow-points  attached  to  his  dress.  Snakes  are  also 
used  in  an  elaborate  celebration  of  this  special  rite,  which,  how¬ 
ever,  I  did  not  see.  Sympathetic  magic  readily  accounts  for 
the  God  of  the  Whirlwind  being  prayed  to  in  cases  of  bodily 
deformations.  The  rite  held  in  connection  with  this  picture 


Tozzer — Navaho  Ceremonials 


Plate  V 


SAND  PAINTING  OF  THF  GOD  OF  THF  WHIRDWIND 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  331 


differed  little  from  the  usual  acts  over  one  of  the  more  elaborate 
sand  mosaics.  Pollen  was  placed  as  usual  on  the  head  of  the 
figure  and  the  heads  of  the  snakes.  Potions  were  offered  to  the 
figure  and  then  given  to  the  patient,  and  finally  the  latter  took 
his  seat  on  the  figure,  facing  the  east.  The  shaman  then  de¬ 
stroyed  the  heads  of  all  the  six  serpents.  Sand  was  taken 
from  the  different  parts  of  the  picture  and  rubbed  on  the  cor¬ 
responding  portion  of  the  body  of  the  patient,  thus  obtaining 
directly  the  full  curative  power  of  the  god  himself. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  the  picture  in  connection  with 
this  rite  with  one  given  by  Dr  Matthews  in  the  celebration  of 
the  Mountain  Chant.  1  The  serpents  in  this  picture  are  also 
represented  with  spots.  Four  sets  of  two  serpents  each  are 
shown.  Each  set  is  colored  differently  and  belongs  to  a  different 
cardinal  point.  There  is  in  addition  a  single  serpent  at  each 
side  of  the  picture.  The  two  pictures  present  few  similarities, 
however,  other  than  in  the  serpents. 

Picture  of  the  Sun  and  Moon.  —  Another  small  and 
comparatively  insignificant  sand  picture  was  noted.  It  was 
made  out  of  doors  under  a  clump  of  sagebrush.  Plates  VI  and 
VII  show  the  shaman  in  the  act  of  preparing  this  painting.  The 
small  deerskin  bags  in  the  foreground  contain  the  different  col¬ 
ored  sands.  The  figure  at  the  right  is  that  of  the  wife  of  the 
shaman,  who  is  watching  the  operation.  The  picture  is  a  rep¬ 
resentation  of  the  sun  and  moon.  The  upper  face  is  that  of  the 
sun,  colored  blue,  outlined  in  yellow,  and  shown  with  two  horns. 
The  lower  face  is  that  of  the  moon,  colored  white,  outlined  also 
in  yellow  and  with  the  two  horns.  The  four  yellow  zigzag  lines 


1  The  Mountain  Chant,  plate  xv. 


332 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


coming  out  of  the  top  of  each  circle  and  the  four  straight  paral¬ 
lel  lines  at  the  bottom  are  the  roads  over  which  the  sun  and  moon 
travel  in  their  course  from  east  to  west.  There  are  four  sets 
of  minute  lines  of  blue  and  yellow  arranged  at  equal  distances 
around  each  face.  These  are  said  to  represent  an  eclipse. 
They  do  not  appear  in  the  photograph.  This  simple  picture 
was  made  as  a  means  of  counteracting  the  evil  effects  which 
came  to  a  woman  who,  when  pregnant,  had  seen  an  eclipse  of 
the  moon.  The  sun  and  moon  in  eclipse  are  considered  as  dead. 
If  they  are  seen  in  this  condition  by  a  pregnant  woman,  her 
child  will  become  ill  and  his  mouth  will  be  drawn  up  on  one 
side.  The  rite  over  the  picture  did  not  differ  from  those  which 
have  been  described  in  connection  with  other  sand  paintings. 
Many  of  the  acts  were  shortened,  and  some  omitted. 

Sand  Pictures  among  other  Peoples.  —  It  is  interesting 
to  compare  the  sand  pictures  of  the  Navaho  with  those  of  peo¬ 
ples  surrounding  them.  The  Navaho  probably  borrowed  the 
idea  of  making  pictures  in  different  colored  sands  from  the 
Pueblo  peoples.  That  the  Navaho  developed  this  to  a  far  great¬ 
er  elaboration  than  that  found  among  other  peoples  seems  clear 
after  comparing  the  sand  pictures,  especially  those  of  the  Nava¬ 
ho,  with  those  of  the  Pueblos.  Among  the  former  the  sand 
mosaics  are  altars  in  themselves.  There  are  few  accessory  ob¬ 
jects  used  in  connection  with  the  picture.  These  are  limited 
usually  to  the  twelve  feathered  sticks  and  the  bowl  or  gourd  of 
some  ceremonial  drink  (see  plate  i).  Among  the  Pueblo  peo¬ 
ples  the  sand  picture  is  only  one  feature  of  their  altars,  and  often 
not  an  important  one.  There  is  usually  an  elaborate  reredos 
composed  of  carved  sticks  of  various  shapes  and  various  uses, 


Tozzer — Navaho  Ceremonials 


Plate  VI 


SAND  PAINTING  OF  THE  SUN  AND  MOON 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  333 


together  with  other  objects.  There  are  figures  of  gods  at 
either  side  of  the  picture,  or  else  these  gods  are  represented 
by  living  people,  as  the  Corn-Maid  and  the  Snake-Boy  in 
the  Antelope  altar  of  the  Hopi.  The  Navaho  gods  are  rep¬ 
resented  in  the  sand  pictures  themselves.  This  is  seldom  the 
case  among  the  Pueblos.  There  is  a  large  variety  of  objects 
placed  around  the  sand  pictures  of  the  latter,  including  the  stone 
fetishes.  The  palladia  of  the  clan  are  often,  although  not  al¬ 
ways,  present  in  the  Pueblo  altars.  Here  we  have  an  example 
of  another  fundamental  difference  between  the  Navaho  and  the 
Pueblo  rites.  Among  the  former  there  is  no  clan  ownership 
of  ceremonial  or  other  objects,  no  ancestral  possessions,  which 
among  the  Pueblo  peoples  are  among  their  most  valued  ones. 
The  Navaho  are  divided  purely  upon  a  geographical  basis. 
The  Navaho  speaks  of  the  place  where  his  ancestors  lived.  This 
is  the  important  feature.  The  Pueblo,  on  the  other  hand,  men¬ 
tions  the  clan  to  which  he  belongs  and  his  share  in  the  common 
ownership  in  that  clan  with  all  one  line  of  ancestors. 

Another  striking  difference  between  the  sand  mosaics  of 
the  two  peoples  is,  that  those  of  the  Navaho  are  never  allowed 
to  remain  for  any  length  of  time  after  they  are  completed.  The 
rite  in  connection  with  them  and  in  which  they  are  mutilated, 
comes  immediately  after  they  are  finished.  Among  the  Pueblos, 
the  sand  figures  often  remain  for  several  days  before  they  are 
destroyed.  The  more  or  less  permanent  and  altar-like  charac¬ 
ter  is  evident  in  the  latter.  The  Hopi  make  the  greater  part 
of  their  sand  pictures  in  the  summer,  in  connection  with  the 
ceremonies  of  the  Antelope  fraternity.  They  always  begin  at 
the  edge  of  the  picture,  and  follow  a  prescribed  order:  first  the 


334 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


north,  colored  yellow;  then  west,  with  green  or  blue;  south,  with 
red;  and  east,  with  white.  Among  the  Navaho,  the  east  is 
white;  the  south,  blue;  the  west,  yellow;  and  the  north,  black. 
It  will  be  noted  that  the  Navaho  colors  correspond  to  different 
cardinal  points,  with  the  exception  of  white,  which  is  also  for 
the  east.  These  are  the  colors  used  for  the  cardinal  points  on 
the  earth.  They  differ  slightly  when  used  for  the  underworld. 
This  ceremonial  importance  of  color  is  marked  among  all  the 
peoples  of  the  Southwest,  and  a  further  development  of  it  is  seen 
in  Mexico  and  Central  America. 

The  sand  pictures  of  the  Navaho  may  be  used  not  only  as 
a  sort  of  temporary  altar,  but  also  in  other  ways;  as  for  dedi¬ 
cating  a  sweat-house,  where  the  figures  in  sand  are  made  on  the 
top  of  the  hut. 

The  sand  pictures  in  general  may  be  said  to  correspond,  in 
part  at  least,  to  the  figures  painted  in  moist  colors  on  skins  by 
the  Indians  of  the  Plains. 

The  Apache,  as  stated  before,  have  sand  pictures;  but  they 
are  far  less  elaborate  than  those  of  the  Navaho.  The  rites  in 
connection  with  them,  however,  are,  in  some  points  at  least,  sin¬ 
gularly  similar  to  the  Navaho  ceremonies;  as,  the  coal  purifica¬ 
tion,  the  seating  of  the  patient  on  the  picture,  and  the  basket 
drum.  The  medicine-hat  and  the  medicine-shirt  of  the  Apache 
serve  as  curative  agents.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  some  of 
the  designs  painted  on  the  latter  are  not  dissimilar  to  certain 
elements  of  the  figures  on  the  sand  pictures  of  the  Navaho. 
With  the  use  of  these  shirts  there  is  far  less  need  of  elaboration  in 
the  designs  of  the  sand  mosaics. 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  335 


The  Navaho  speak  of  the  Ute  and  the  cliff-dwellers  as 
painting  pictures  with  colored  sands;  but,  as  Dr  Matthews  sug¬ 
gests,  the  latter  may  refer  to  one  or  more  of  the  Hopi  clans 
which  occupied  Canyon  de  Chelly  within  comparatively  recent 
times. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  in  connection  with  sand  pictures  that 
the  Cheyenne  and  Arapaho  make  use  of  colored  sands  in  their 
religious  rites.  The  sand  feature  is,  as  in  the  case  with  the 
Pueblo  peoples,  only  a  component  part  of  an  altar,  and  plays 
a  much  more  inferior  role  even  than  among  the  Pueblos.  Dotted 
lines  and  straight  lines  made  with  different  colored  sands  rep¬ 
resenting  the  morning  star,  are  made  in  connection  with  the 
altars  used  in  the  Sun  Dance. 1 

The  Luisenos,  the  southernmost  Shoshonean  stock  in  Cali¬ 
fornia,  also  use  colored  sands  in  connection  with  several  rites, 
including  the  girls’  and  boys’  initiation  ceremonies,  when  the 
world  with  the  earth  and  sea  are  pictured  in  sand. 2 

Minor  Ceremonials 

The  class  of  minor  rites  not  connected  in  any  way  with  the 
long  ceremonies  is  a  large  one.  These  are  more  or  less  informal 
in  their  nature,  and  far  less  exacting  than  those  of  longer  duration. 
They  are  usually  carried  out  in  the  domestic  Aogan,  around  the 
fire  in  the  center  of  the  room.  In  many  of  these  rites,  one  of 
the  less  important  and  therefore  less  expensive  shamans  is  en- 

1  Dorsey,  The  Cheyenne,  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History,  Anthropological  Series, 
ix ;  also  The  Arapaho  Sun  Dance,  IV. 

2  DuBois,  The  Religion  of  the  Luiseno  Indians  of  Southern  California,  University 
of  California  Publications  in  American  Archeology  and  Ethnology,  vm,  No.  3. 


336  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


gaged.  I  have  already  described  two  of  these  minor  rites  in 
connection  with  the  consideration  of  sand  paintings  in  general. 

Rite  of  NitSEGEHATAL. —  Another  rite  in  which  there  is  no 
sand  picture  is  called  Nitregehatal.  I  was  unable  to  verify 
the  meaning  of  this  term.  It  was  given  to  me  as  signifying  the 
Wing  Dance,  but  I  am  not  at  all  sure  of  the  correctness  of  this. 
The  rite  began  about  nine  o’clock  in  the  evening  and  lasted  until 
dawn.  Four  sticks  (honejgis)  about  two  feet  long  were  placed 
around  the  fire,  at  the  four  cardinal  points,  and  pointing  away 
from  the  fire.  These  served  as  the  ceremonial  pokers  and  were 
used  only  at  this  time.  The  shaman  then  took  a  round  pot 
(assa)  containing  a  stew  of  corn  and  mutton  (a/tanabez),  and, 
after  moving  it  along  the  length  of  each  poker,  placed  it  in  a 
position  at  the  north  of  the  fire.  A  bull-roarer  (sindini)  was 
then  made,  after  which  the  patient  was  asked  to  enter  the  hut 
and  take  his  place  at  the  north  of  the  fire.  Feathers  were  tied 
to  the  hair  of  the  sick  man,  and  a  line  of  corn-pollen  was  drawn 
across  his  forehead.  The  leader  then  went  outside  the  hut  and 
walked  around  the  house  clockwise,  swinging  the  bull-roarer. 
He  turned  before  reaching  the  door  and  retraced  his  steps  contra- 
clockwise  around  the  hut,  never  in  each  case  completing  the 
circle,  but  always  leaving  an  opening  at  the  east,  in  front  of  the 
door,  untouched  by  his  feet.  When  he  entered  the  Aogan  he 
touched  the  bottom  of  each  foot  of  the  patient  and  the  other 
specified  parts  of  the  body  with  the  instrument. 

A  basket  was  next  utilized  as  a  drum  in  the  rite,  which  has 
been  often  described.  1  The  singing  now  began,  accompanied 
by  a  gourd  rattle,  and  it  was  kept  up  until  dawn.  Pollen 


5  The  Night  Chant,  287-291. 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  337 


(taditdirc)  was  administered  to  the  patient,  who  placed  a  small 
particle  on  his  mouth,  another  on  his  head,  and  cast  a  third  into 
the  air.  This  was  repeated  once  during  the  night,  as  was  also 
the  journey  by  the  shaman  around  the  house  with  the  bull-roarer, 
followed  by  its  application  on  the  body  of  the  patient.  Just 
before  sunrise  the  patient  ate  from  the  contents  of  the  pot  con¬ 
taining  the  stew.  The  leader  then  filled  with  water  the  basket 
which  had  served  as  a  drum,  and  marched  with  it  around  the 
fire  four  times,  followed  by  the  patient.  Their  direction  was 
clockwise,  starting  at  the  east.  The  patient  left  the  Aogan  just 
at  sunrise,  walking  out,  and  greeting  the  sun  by  raising  his  arms 
over  his  head  four  times.  The  simple  rite  was  completed,  when 
the  utensils  were  gathered  up  and  the  few  spectators  went 
through  the  self-administration  of  pollen. 

SUMMER  Dance.  —  Dr  Matthews  states 1  that  in  none  of 
the  ancient  Navaho  rites  is  there  a  regular  drum  or  tomtom  em¬ 
ployed.  The  inverted  basket  covered  with  a  blanket  serves  the 
purpose  of  a  drum  in  all  the  ceremonies  described  by  him.  This 
form  of  drum  may  have  been  the  only  one  in  the  former  rites 
of  the  Navaho,  but  at  the  present  time  there  is  sometimes  used 
a  drum  made  from  a  pot  over  which  a  piece  of  goat-skin  is 
stretched  (fig.  1).  The  drumstick  is  made  of  a  piece  of  bent 
wood,  and  is  similar  to  the  stick  used  by  some  of  the  Pueblo 
peoples.  The  use  of  the  drum  itself  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the 
results  of  close  contact  with  these  people.  This  drum  was  used 
in  a  short  rite  called  Nda,  or  “Summer  Dance.”  It  began 
at  seven  in  the  evening,  and  continued  until  eleven  o’clock 
at  night.  The  manufacture  of  the  drum  was  the  first  act 


1  The  Basket  Drum,  American  Anthropologist,  vii,  p.  203,  1894. 


33B  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


in  this  rite.  An  earthen  pot  which  had  not  been  used  for 
any  secular  purpose  was  obtained,  partially  filled  with  water 
and  a  top  of  goat-skin  was  stretched  over  the  mouth  of  the 
pot.  This  was  done  by  four  men  working  together,  one  of 
whom  served  as  leader.  Four  minute  holes  were  made  in 
the  head  of  the  drum  at  the  four  cardinal  points  as  the  pot  was 


Fig.  1 — Drum  and  drum-stick  used  by  the  Navaho. 


held  by  the  handle  by  the  leader,  who  faced  the  east.  The  stick 
was  then  made.  After  a  short  chant  the  drum  was  struck  by  the 
leader  four  times,  the  hand  pointing  in  turn  to  the  east,  the  south, 
the  west,  and  the  north.  The  head  of  the  drum  and  the  sides 
were  then  sprinkled  with  pollen.  Each  of  the  four  men 
administered  pollen  to  themselves  in  the  way  described  before. 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  339 


This  ended  the  consecration  of  the  drum,  and  it  was  delivered 
into  the  hands  of  one  of  the  younger  men  of  the  tribe,  who  beat 
it  throughout  the  remainder  of  the  rite  in  which  informal  dan¬ 
cing  was  the  principal  feature.  Men  and  women  danced  together 
side  by  side  or  facing  each  other.  A  woman  had  the  privilege 
of  capturing  any  man  she  could,  and  compelling  him  to  dance 
opposite  her  in  addition  to  paying  her  a  small  sum  of  money  or 
making  her  some  other  present.  Each  woman  carried  in  her 
hands  a  stick  decorated  at  the  top  with  a  piece  of  cedar,  below 
which  there  were  two  white  eagle-feathers  tied  by  two  streamers 
of  bayeta  cloth.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  Spanish  influence 
may  be  noted  in  the  form  of  this  dance.  There  was  no  special 
act  in  connection  with  the  dancing,  although  it  was  stated  that 
it  was  held  in  order  to  cure  a  sick  man  living  more  than  a  hun¬ 
dred  miles  to  the  south. 

Rite  of  Charcoal  Painting.  —  I  wish  to  describe  one 
other  of  the  shorter  rites,  as  there  are  features  in  it  which  have 
not  been  recorded.  The  rite  in  question  was  to  cure  a  man  of 
a  sickness  which,  it  was  thought,  had  come  as  a  consequence  of  his 
having  killed  another  Navaho  in  a  fit  of  anger.  The  rite  came  at 
the  very  end  of  August,  beginning  just  before  noon  and  lasting 
until  the  middle  of  the  afternoon.  As  a  preparation  for  the  cere¬ 
mony,  a  quantity  of  willow-sticks  (gaii/bai)  were  burned  and 
made  into  charcoal  together  with  several  pieces  of  pine-bark 
(disHebaatoz) .  These  were  burned  in  the  regular  fire  of  the 
Aogan.  There  were  also  burned  on  a  flat  stone  two  different  kinds 
of  weed  (a/tadeglil) .  The  ashes  of  two  small  feathers  were 
added  to  those  of  the  weeds.  The  leader  then  furnished  a  large 
piece  of  mutton-fat  (aga)  together  with  a  small  quantity  of  a 


340 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


mixture  (glanatfin)  of  the  fat  of  the  mountain-sheep  and  several 
other  animals.  Two  small  balls  were  made  of  these  fats,  one 
being  mixed  with  the  ashes  of  the  feathers  and  the  two  weeds,  and 
the  other  combined  with  red  sandstone  (tri)  ground  to  a  powder. 
The  family  of  the  patient  presented  the  shaman  with  a  large 
piece  of  calico,  on  which  each  article  was  placed  as  soon  as  it 
was  prepared. 

A  small  forked  stick  was  then  wound  with  a  leaf  of  a  cactus- 
plant  and  the  whole,  in  turn,  covered  with  a  piece  of  deerskin 
colored  with  the  red  grease.  Two  braids  of  three  cactus-leaves 
each  were  then  made,  and  the  ends  of  the  braids  tied  together 
and  the  braids  themselves  placed  side  by  side,  making  a  double 
braided  bracelet.  A  chain  (gahazdze)  was  next  made  by  tying 
together  the  long  slender  leaves  of  the  cactus  end  to  end,  and 
finally  the  ends  of  the  chain  were  tied  together.  Fifteen  bow- 
knots  (woltad)  were  made  in  fifteen  other  leaves,  and  these  were 
all  placed  in  a  line  on  the  calico  before  the  shaman.  He  then 
prepared  an  infusion  made  of  water  and  two  herbs  whose  names 
I  could  not  secure.  This  was  made  in  a  gourd  ladle,  and  also 
placed  on  the  calico.  Finally  a  bowl  containing  water  mixed 
with  twigs  of  cedar  was  prepared,  and  the  rite  proper  began. 
It  seemed  to  be  so  entirely  a  family  affair  that  the  number  of 
singers  was  restricted  to  the  members  of  the  immediate  family 
of  the  patient.  In  this  case  there  were  three  men  in  addition 
to  the  leader.  The  women  present  did  not  sing. 

The  shaman  started  the  chanting  and  at  the  same  time  he 
took  up  one  of  the  knotted  leaves.  After  pressing  it  along  the 
right  leg  and  over  the  foot  of  the  patient,  he  untied  the  knot 
with  one  pull  directly  over  the  big  toe  of  the  left  foot.  This 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  341 


act  was  probably  similar  to  the  use  of  the  “circle  kethawns” 
in  the  Night  Chant.  In  the  same  manner  as  before,  the  other 
knots  were  untied  over  the  following  places  on  the  patient’s 
body:  the  right  and  left  knees,  the  right  and  left  hands,  the 
breast,  the  back,  the  right  and  left  shoulders,  the  right  and  left 
cheeks,  and  the  right  and  left  sides  near  the  hip.  A  part  of  the 
contents  of  the  gourd  was  then  given  the  patient  to  drink  in  three 
potions,  according  to  the  song  which  was  sung  throughout  the 
rite.  After  the  patient  had  chewed  up  the  herbs  in  the  drink, 
he  pressed  them  on  the  several  parts  of  the  body  previously 
named,  and  bathed  his  entire  body  in  the  liquid  remaining  in 
the  vessel. 

The  shaman  next  marked  the  specified  parts  of  the  body 
with  pollen,  after  which  there  was  a  long  period  of  singing. 
Finally,  the  bowl  filled  with  cedar  and  water  was  taken  by  an 
assistant  and  the  contents  daubed  on  the  several  parts  of  the  body 
of  the  patient,  after  which  some  of  the  contents  was  taken  in¬ 
ternally;  and  those  present  as  spectators  also  took  a  sip  from 
the  bowl.  The  portion  remaining  was  used  to  bathe  the  body 
of  the  patient.  Sweet-grass  (gloni/tfin)  and  a  quantity  of  black 
seeds  (hazelta'i)  were  given  an  assistant  to  chew.  After  they  had 
been  thoroughly  masticated,  he  blew  on  his  hands,  waved  them 
once  in  the  air,  and  pressed  on  the  body  of  the  patient  —  one 
hand  on  his  chest,  the  other  on  his  back.  He  then  blew  three 
times  into  the  face  of  the  sick  man,  and  finally  went  around  the 
circle  of  spectators,  blowing  once  in  the  face  of  each,  or  else  on 
a  special  part  of  the  body  where  a  pain  was  felt. 

The  next  act  in  the  rite  was  to  daub  the  usual  parts  of  the 
body  of  the  patient  with  the  grease  from  the  black  ball  made  of 


342 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


the  ashes.  The  faces  of  the  spectators  were  also  marked  in  the 
same  way.  The  large  mass  of  clear  fat  was  then  rubbed  over 
the  entire  body  of  the  patient  and  also  along  one  lock  of  his  hair. 
That  remaining  was  eagerly  seized  by  the  rest  of  the  family, 
and  smeared  on  their  own  bodies  as  well  as  was  possible  without 
removing  their  clothes.  The  mothers  took  great  pains  to  cover 
the  bodies  of  their  small  children  with  the  grease.  This  was 
but  a  preparation  for  the  blackening  of  the  entire  body  of  the 
patient  with  the  charcoal.  Not  an  inch  of  skin  was  left  uncov¬ 
ered  except  the  upper  part  of  the  face,  the  grease  acting  simply 
as  a  means  of  holding  the  charcoal.  The  red  ball  of  grease  was 
next  rubbed  on  the  upper  part  of  the  patient’s  face  above  the 
chin.  Two  spots  were  made  on  each  cheek  from  the  contents 
of  a  deerskin  bag.  Red  powder  made  of  sandstone  was  then 
rubbed  on  the  hair,  after  which  a  small  pile  of  white  ashes  was 
placed  at  his  feet.  At  certain  parts  of  the  song,  the  patient  blew 
a  pinch  of  the  ash  into  the  air. 

A  new  pair  of  sandals  was  placed  in  front  of  him  and  a 
pinch  of  dust  or  dirt  was  sprinkled  on  each  by  the  shaman,  after 
which  the  patient  put  them  on.  The  leader  then  took  the  double 
braided  bracelet  and  went  with  it  up  and  down  the  length  of 
the  right  arm,  finally  tying  it  around  the  right  wrist.  The  chain 
of  cactus-leaves  tied  end  to  end  was  then  hung  over  the  left 
shoulder.  The  stick  wound  with  the  leaves  and  with  a  strip  of 
deerskin  was  given  the  patient,  and  he  walked  out  of  the  /zogan. 
These  different  objects  were  worn  by  him,  and  he  was  declared 
cured. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  preceding  accounts  of  these  minor 
rites  that  they  all  follow  about  the  same  line,  and  are  similar 


NAVAHO  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIALS  343 


in  most  respects  to  the  individual  rites  which  go  to  make  up 
the  longer  and  more  complicated  ceremonials.  Sacrifice  and 
prayer  are  the  main  components  in  all  the  rites.  Dancing  and 
masquerade  are  less  common  features  in  the  minor  rites. 

In  considering  the  ceremonials  of  the  Navaho,  especially 
in  comparison  with  those  of  the  Pueblo  peoples,  there  is  danger 
that  we  shall  fail  to  give  the  former  enough  credit  for  their  reli¬ 
gious  ideas.  They  borrowed,  to  be  sure;  but  they  were  by  no 
means  simply  borrowers:  they  adapted,  they  developed,  and  in 
many  cases,  especially  in  regard  to  the  sand  pictures,  they  did 
everything  but  actually  invent  the  idea  of  the  painting  of  pictures 
in  different  colored  sands.  After  having  once  obtained  the  main 
religious  ideas  from  their  neighbors,  they  were  successful  in 
building  up  an  elaborate  ritual  and  a  complicated  mythology 
along  quite  different  lines.  At  an  early  time,  when  they  pos¬ 
sessed  little  in  the  way  of  ceremonials,  their  willingness  to  bor¬ 
row  was  great.  Later,  when  the  rich  ritual  of  their  own  was 
developed  from  the  adopted  beginnings,  their  ceremonials  were 
for  the  most  part  fixed.  I  have  tried  to  show  this  comparative 
permanency  in  the  case  of  the  most  interesting  and  most  im¬ 
portant  feature  of  the  religious  life  of  the  Navaho  —  the  sand 
paintings. 

Harvard  University 
Cambridge.,  Massachusetts 


CERTAIN  QUESTS  AND  DOLES 


BY 

Charles  Peabody 

IN  its  simplest  form  the  title  means  “demands  and  answers”; 
in  the  history  of  culture  some  of  them  may  become  cus¬ 
tomary  and  recurrent.  In  any  religion  the  sacramental 
or  sacrificial  elements  are  of  this  character;  the  spiritual  bless¬ 
ing  follows  upon  prayer  made  good  by  offering.  The  formal 
demands  for  temporal  benefits,  however,  are  not  necessarily 
sacramental,  and  it  is  of  these  the  paper  will  most  treat.  With 
primitive  people,  secular  formalities  are  more  often  controlled 
by  religious  ideas,  and  directed  by  religious  leaders:  so,  in  a 
society  whose  recurrent  feasts  are  fixed  by  a  hierarchy,  any  for¬ 
malities,  secular  or  religious,  tend  to  follow  the  church  calendar, 
and  that  order  will  here  be  observed. 

Quest  and  dole  do  not  necessarily  accompany  each  other. 
As  fruitless  quests  are  of  no  use  they  disappear,  and  the  words 
survive  in  literature,  or  are  revived  in  hymns  and  carols  used 
in  reminiscent  festivals; 1  but  doles  without  quests  are  numerous. 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  quest  is  a  later  comer  than  the  dole. 
Feasts  to  and  for  the  dead  are  true  doles  among  primitive  people, 
and  here  the  idea  of  the  quest  is  present  only  in  that  of  duty  to 
the  departed. 


1  In  one  school  in  Cambridge  the  custom  of  the  Christmas  waits  has  been  revived; 
the  singing  being  in  return  for  the  Christmas  greens  and  hospitality  extended  by  friends. 


CERTAIN  QUESTS  AND  DOLES 


345 


The  principal  actors  in  the  game  or  drama  are  the  poor,  the 
helpless,  and  children,  and  it  takes  place  much  oftener  in 
the  country  than  in  the  city. 

We  shall  take  up  the  less  known  instances  and  the  less 
familiar  aspects  of  the  greater  occasions.  Such  customs  as  those 
connected  with  the  children’s  dole  from  Santa  Claus,  the  chil¬ 
dren’s  quest  of  eggs  at  Easter,  many  carnival  rites,  etc.,  have 
often  been  described,  and  need  no  extended  description  here. 

The  quest  may  be:  i,  A  demand  in  words  of  the  appli¬ 
cant’s  choosing;  2,  A  demand  in  a  set  verse  or  prose  form,  with 
blanks  to  be  filled  according  to  the  circumstances;  or,  3,  A  de¬ 
mand  in  a  conventional  form,  sung  or  said,  partly  appropriate 
to  the  occasion,  and  partly  of  general  application. 

The  quest  may  be  directed  to  a  single  individual,  or  (com¬ 
monly)  take  place  from  door  to  door.  It  may  or  may  not  con¬ 
tain  a  bribe.  If  it  should,  the  bribe  may  be:  1,  A  direct  pay¬ 
ment  for  the  bounty;  2,  Its  own  reward,  that  is,  the  bounty  is 
in  return  for  the  pleasure  the  listener  receives  from  the  verse  or 
the  music;  3,  A  prayer  for  blessings  temporal  and  spiritual 
upon  the  giver;  4,  A  compliment  or  bit  of  flattery;  or,  5,  A 
promise  of  action  on  the  part  of  the  speaker,  for  example,  to  go 
away  if  the  demand  is  satisfied.  The  bribe  may  be  made  more 
intense:  1,  By  calling  attention  to  the  misery  of  the  quester; 
or,  2,  By  a  masquerade  in  the  form  of  a  historical  or  super¬ 
natural  character  whose  importance  justifies  a  dole. 

The  quest  is  often  made  more  impressive  by  a  threat,  the 
converse  of  the  bribe.  It  may  be:  1,  A  prediction  of  misfor¬ 
tune;  2,  Actual  damage;  3,  Uncomplimentary  remarks;  or, 


346  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


4,  A  veiled  threat,  such  as  is  implied  in  the  last  class  of  bribes; 
that  is,  “If  you  won’t  give,  we  won’t  go  away.” 

Doles,  more  numerous  than  quests,  may  be  given:  i,  From 
a  superior  to  an  inferior,  as  from  rich  to  poor,  prince  to  people, 
godparents  to  godchildren,  priest  to  parish;  2,  From  an  inferior 
to  a  superior,  as  compliments  (the  old-fashioned  country  sur¬ 
prise-party,  etc.)  ;  or,  3,  By  some  one  acting  for  another,  as  a 
monk  for  his  patron  saint,  priest  as  vicar  of  God,  etc. 

Doles  may  also  be  given:  1,  For  the  quester’s  own  use, 
or  for  a  secondary  use;  2,  Through  the  quester  to  a  benefici¬ 
ary  not  concerned  in  the  quest;  or,  3,  To  the  supernatural,  the 
dead  or  their  substitutes. 

Finally,  doles  may  consist:  1,  Of  objects,  in  kind  or  in 
money,  asked  for;  2,  Of  special  appropriate  conventional  gifts, 
very  often  of  cakes  of  particular  form;  or,  3,  Of  spiritual 
reward. 

Christmas  and  New  Year's  Day.  —  Whatever  the  origin 
of  the  solemnities  at  this  season,  —  whether  a  solstitial  feast  of  the 
prehistoric  Eurafricans 1  and  Eurasiatics,  or  a  feast  of  the  dead,2 
or  a  “druidical  cutting  of  the  mistletoe,”  3  —  whencever  derived, 
the  survivals  known  as  the  “hogmanay”  quests  are  the  most  in¬ 
teresting  of  the  countless  rites  we  have  received  and  still  keep. 
They  occur  in  western  Europe,  from  the  Isle  of  Man  to  France, 
and  vary  in  time  from  late  Advent  till  into  January. 

In  the  Isle  of  Man  mummers  begin  their  petition  in  these 
words:  “  Tonight  is  New  Year’s  night,  Hogunnaa,”  etc.  This 
used  to  be  sung  on  the  eve  of  November  12,  corresponding  to 


1  Cf.  H.  Heinecke,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  xi,  p.  6z6. 

2  Cf.  M.  Hofler,  Archiv  fiir  Anthropologie,  pp.  94  ff.,  1905. 

3  Cf.  Murray’s  Neiv  English  Dictionary,  S.V.  Hogmanay. 


CERTAIN  QUESTS  AND  DOLES 


347 


October  31  or  November  1  O.  S.,  which  Professor  Rhys  thinks 
was  the  Celtic  New  Year.1  The  custom  is  still  kept  up  by 
mummers  at  that  time.  It  will  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  call 
attention  to  the  complicated  evolutions  of  the  mummers  in 
Philadelphia  on  New  Year’s  eve  and  to  the  importance  that 
Celtic  (Welsh)  traditions  have  in  the  inheritance  and  place- 
names  of  southeastern  Pennsylvania. 

In  Scotland,2  on  December  31,  the  children  demand  oaten 
bread  or  cake  with  the  lines  — • 

“My  feet’s  cauld,  my  shoon’s  thin, 

Gie’s  my  cake  and  let  me  rin.” 

Here  is  the  idea  of  poverty  and  the  motive  of  going  farther. 
Note  that  oats-straw  and  oats  are  traditional  about  Christmas, 
reminiscent  of  the  straw  of  the  manger.3  In  northeast  Scotland 
on  December  31  hogminay  is  demanded.  Here  the  verse  recounts 
the  cold  feet,  etc.,  and  the  purpose  of  going  farther;  but  the 
serious  side  of  the  quest  has  become  a  game,  and  the  children 
explain  that  they  are  not  real  beggars.4 

In  parts  of  England,5  on  December  31  the  children  sing 
verses  beginning  — 

“Hogmanay,  trollolay 
Hagmena,  Hagmena,” 

1  Cf.  J.  Rhys,  Celtic  Folk-Lore,  I,  p.  316,  where  he  quotes  Vallancey  in  Kelly’s  Manx- 
English  Dictionary. 

2  Cf.  Chambers,  Book  of  Days,  II,  pp.  788,  789;  cf.  also  Folk-Lore  Society,  northern 
counties,  p.  77.  On  the  Scottish  borders,  New  Year’s  is  the  same  as  Cake  Day.  Cf.  also 
Murray’s  Dictionary,  s.  V.  Christmas,  quoting  Selden  (1689)  :  “The  coffin  of  our  Christmas 
Pies  in  shape  long  is  in  imitation  of  the  cratch.” 

3  In  the  author’s  family,  Christmas  cakes,  called  “oat-straws,”  are  always  made. 

4  Cf.  W.  Gregor,  Folk-Lore  Society,  1881,  northeast  Scotland,  p.  162. 

5  Cf.  Denham  Tracts,  11,  95. 


34B  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


demanding  bread  and  cheese,  and  in  return  they  are  given  farls 
of  oaten  cakes  and  cheese. 

That  there  should  be  many  ways  of  spelling  “hogmanay” 
is  not  remarkable  when  two  variants  occur  in  the  same  song. 

In  Northumberland,1  on  Christmas  eve,  hogmena  is  asked 
for,  and  Yule  doughs  given;  and  in  the  same  county  hogmanay 
is  the  name  of  the  cake  given  to  children  on  New  Year’s.  In 
some  parts  of  Yorkshire  2  the  name  becomes  the  refrain:  “Hag- 
man  heigh,”  which  is  an  exclamation. 

In  the  departments  of  the  Orne,3  Seine  Inferieure,  and 
Eure,  on  New  Year’s  eve  the  children  demand  aguignettes  from 
door  to  door  with  the  piteous  appeal  of  no  cap  to  cover  them. 
Near  Rouen,4 5  on  January  6  the  dole  is  asked  for  St  Luke  and  St 
Thomas,  instead  of  for  the  questers;  this  is  somewhat  rare  in  the 
hogmanay  songs.  In  parts  of  Touraine,3  on  the  eve  of  January 
14  (St  Hilaire)  le  gui  Van  neuf  is  demanded.  In  the  village  of 
Tournon  St  Pierre,  the  guilloneu  is  given  to  the  boys  who  make 
the  quest.  It  is  a  long  and  narrow  cake,  and  in  case  of  refusal  the 
boys  sing  the  threat:  “ Tourner  la  chambriere  au  feu .”  In 
Vierzon,6  near  Christmas  ai-gui-lans  (cakes  of  peculiar  form) 
are  sold;  and  in  Vendee, 7  on  December  31  the  young  men  ask 
for  the  guillanu  with  the  implied  blessing,  “Mettez  vos  coeurs  en 
Jesus  Christ ,”  much  like  the  “God  rest  you!”  of  the  waits. 

1  Cf.  County  Folk-Lore,  Folk-Lore  Society,  1903,  p.  79. 

2  Cf.  Folk-Lore,  northern  counties,  p.  77. 

3  Cf.  H.  Menu,  La  tradition,  x,  p.  49. 

4  Cf.  H.  Sincere,  La  tradition,  vm,  p.  7. 

5  Cf.  L.  Pineau,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  xix,  pp.  294,  295,  481. 

6  Cf.  Laisnel  de  la  Salle,  Croyances  et  Legendes  du  Centre  de  la  France,  1,  p.  xi. 

^  Cf.  J.  de  la  Chesnaye,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  XVIII,  p.  460. 


CERTAIN  QUESTS  AND  DOLES 


349 


la  Tarn-et-Garonne  there  is  an  interesting  quest  before 
Christmas  for  flour  with  which  to  make  the  bread  to  be  blessed, 
—  the  pains  benits ,  that  play  such  a  role  at  the  midnight  Christ- 
mas-eve  mass  and  in  the  subsequent  distribution.  This  is  the 
quest  of  the  Guilhone.  Here  1  are  found  the  tale  of  the  cold 
wind  and  the  threat  of  discontinuing  the  song.  One  of  the  uses 
of  the  pains  benits  is  — 

“Pain  benit,  je  te  prends. 

Si  la  mort  me  surprend 
Sers-moi  de  sacrement.” 

In  Franche  Comte  2  a  comic  variant  appears  on  New  Year’s. 
The  gamins  demand  alms,  etc.,  with  the  cry,  uLa  guille  au  nez ,” 
evidently  a  popular  etymology. 

Of  all  the  New  Year’s  quests,  this  is  perhaps  the  least  in¬ 
fluenced  by  Christian  tradition,  and  therefore  it  is  the  most  diffi¬ 
cult  to  explain. 

Various  etymologies  have  been  offered  — 

1.  Au  gui  Fan  neuf,  from  the  supposed  custom  (see  above) 
of  cutting  the  mistletoe  at  New  Year’s.  This  sounds  like  a  pop¬ 
ular  derivation  based  on  several  variant  derivatives  of  a  word 
which  originally  may  or  may  not  have  had  a  corresponding 
sound. 

2.  The  forms  roguignon  (Picardy),  hoguignete ,  hogui- 
lanno  (Caen),  hoguilanne  (Saint  Lo),  are  referred  to  Hoc  in 
anno ,  that  is,  a  New  Year’s  gift  or  wish.3 

3.  Hagmena ,  from  hagman  heigh ,  or  a  call  to  the  hagman 
or  woodman  in  the  winter  time; 4  or, 

1  Cf.  C.  Daux,  Croyances  et  traditions  Montalbanais,  p.  15.  Cf.  also  Soleville, 
Chants,  Bas-Quercyy,  p.  277. 

2  Cf.  C.  Beauquier,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  Xiv,  p.  8. 

3  Cf.  H.  Menu,  La  tradition,  X,  p.  49. 

4  Cf.  County  Folk-Lore,  Folk  Lore  Society,  1899,  p.  282, 


350 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


4.  Hagmena,  from  S,yi ov  rfm,  a  reference  to  the  Christmas 
season.1 2 

5.  Guillaneu ,  from  Breton  equin  an  eit  ( le  ble  germe)  ? 

6.  Ai-gui-lan ,3  from  0  gzz<?,  a  joyous  exclamation 

(gue  or  gui) . 

7.  The  Spanish  forms  aguilando  and  aguinaldo  from  a 
corrupt  Kalendae,  meaning  first  month  or  year.4 

8.  Aguinaldo ,  from  Celtic  eguinand  or  a  regalo  for  New 
Year’s.5 

9.  Aguinaldo ,  from  Basque  aguindu  or  Breton  eghinad 
d’e  or  Etrennes  a  moi .6 

The  balance  of  evidence  is,  that  the  quest  itself  goes  back 
to  a  pre-Christian  solstitial  ceremony  that  obtained  throughout 
northern  and  western  Europe,  and  that  a  name  or  names  in  some 
Aryan  dialect  or  dialects  were  given,  of  which  the  Celtic  form 
has  survived  in  the  many  modern  variants.  Etymologically, 
then,  the  following  variants  and  their  connections  may  probably 
boast  a  common  ancestor:  Hogmanay  (Scotland),  hagman 
heigh  (England),  hoguinane  (Normandy),  la  guille  au  nez 
Franche  Comte),  le  gui  Van  neuf  (Touraine),  ai-gui-lan 
(Vierzon),  guillanu  (Vendee),  guilhone  (Bas  Quercy),  agui¬ 
lando  (Spain). 

Finally,  certain  other  names  should  be  mentioned. 

1  Possibly  dyia  n-fivri  Modern  Greek  is  a  better  analogy. 

2  Cf.  H.  Carnoy,  La  tradition,  XI,  pp.  36  ff. 

3  Cf.  Laisnel  de  la  Salle,  Croyances  Centre  France,  1,  p.  55. 

4  Cf.  Murray’s  Dictionary,  s.v.  Hogmanay  ad  fin. 

5  Cf.  Zerolo,  Spanish  Dictionary,  s.v.  Aguinaldo. 

6  Korting,  Latein-Roman.  JVorterbuch,  Art.  376. 


CERTAIN  QUESTS  AND  DOLES 


35i 


In  Treguier1  (Cotes-du-Nord) ,  on  December  26  (St  Ste¬ 
phen)  the  children  make  a  quest  for  couignowa  or  gifts.  Now, 
these  are  also  little  fruit-cakes,  and  the  word  takes  the  form  of 
couignan  or  couignaneu  (Vannes).  The  usual  derivation  is  from 
couign  or  corner,  as  these  little  three-cornered  cakes  were  baked 
in  the  corners  of  the  oven  where  the  great  round  loaf  would  not 
reach. 

In  Lorraine  the  Christmas  cakes  are  cognes  and  cogneux; 
in  Bray,  one  name  is  quignot ;  in  Arras,  queugnot ;  and  in  French 
Flanders,  queniole,  cuniole ,  and  keniole.  Here  the  derivation 
is  made  from  cunae  or  cradle  (creche),  as  the  Christ-child  is 
often  represented  on  them.  Now,  it  is  likely  that  all  these  forms 
are  related,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  such  forms  as  queniole 
and  guilhone,  couignaneu  and  aguignette ,  or  hoguinane ,  may  be 
descended  from  a  common  parent.  Later,  as  the  word  took 
dialectic  forms,  and  local  Christian  conditions  modified  the 
original  processes,  popular  fancy  seized  upon  certain  resem¬ 
blances  suggesting  appropriate  etymologies. 

Brief  mention  may  now  be  made  of  customs  at  this  season 
other  than  hogmanay. 

The  English  waits  are  familiar  to  all. 

In  Porrentruy,2  Switzerland,  the  boys  sing  Noel ,  Bon  an, 
and  Les  rois,  complaining  of  the  cold,  and  wishing  for  the  par¬ 
don  of  the  listeners’  sins.  The  fruit  of  the  quest  becomes,  in  turn, 
a  sort  of  dole  from  the  singers  to  the  Christ-child.  The  Noels  of 
the  Jura  make  a  collection  both  interesting  and  charming. 


1  Cf.  G.  le  Calvez,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  I,  pp.  18  ff. 

2  Cf.  A.  d’Aucourt,  Schweizerisches  Archiv  fiir  Volkskunde,  pp.  42  ff.,  1899. 


352 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


In  a  collection  of  cake-molds  from  St  Gall,1  of  the  six¬ 
teenth,  seventeenth,  and  eighteenth  centuries,  is  one  which  repre¬ 
sents  a  bearded  man  with  a  stick,  and  a  goose  in  a  basket.  This 
familiar  Santa  Claus  is  explained  as  Noel,  in  the  guise  of  the 
Wandering  Jew,  carrying  a  dole  of  geese  to  the  poor. 

In  Montbeliard,2  on  New  Year’s  eve  the  peasants  go  about 
disguised  as  the  poor,  demanding: 

“Coupez  au  lard  sans  regarder  (bis) 

Mais  prenez  garde  de  vous  couper.” 

They  complain  of  cold  feet,  wish  a  happy  New  Year,  threaten 
many  rats  in  case  their  quest  is  not  granted,  and  promise  to  go  on. 

In  Germany,  and  especially  in  Scandinavia,  there  is  an 
immense  lore  concerned  with  the  Jul-cakes  and  Jul-bread  doled 
to  men  or  to  the  beasts  of  the  field.3  In  Germany,4  as  elsewhere, 
on  Christmas  or  Christmas  eve  a  dole  is  left  on  the  table  as  the 
portion  of  the  souls  of  the  dead. 

In  Corsica,5  on  December  31  the  children  go  on  a  quest  from 
house  to  house;  food  or  money  is  thrown  to  them,  and  there  en¬ 
sues  a  scramble,  a  concomitant  of  many  doles.  The  quest  is 
called  Baracoucou. 

In  Calymnos,6  on  Christmas,  Easter,  June  29  (Holy  Apos¬ 
tles),  September  1,  and  November  30  (St  Andrew),  the  people 

1  Cf.  A.  Certeux,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  XII,  p.  375. 

2  Cf.  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  vi,  p.  19. 

3  Cf.  H.  Helnecke,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  xi,  pp.  626  ff . ;  Wadensterna 
( Globus ,  lxxii,  1897,  PP-  374  ff-)  !  Hofler  ( Globus ,  lxxx,  etc.).  In  Skanseni,  Stockholm, 
is  an  exhibition  of  the  traditional  cakes  and  breads  of  Sweden,  and  Professor  Hammersted 
has  collected  much  material.  Cf.  also  O.  Montelius,  Solens  Hjul,  etc.,  Nordisk  Tidskrift, 
parts  1  and  2,  1904. 

4  Cf.  A.  Gittee,  La  tradition,  vm,  p.  107. 

5  Cf.  J.  Agostini,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  xii,  p.  523. 

6  Cf.  W.  H.  D.  Rouse,  Folk-Lore,  x,  pp.  180,  181. 


CERTAIN  QUESTS  AND  DOLES 


353 


make  cakes  and  lay  them  on  the  tombs ;  children,  beggars,  and 
strangers  may  eat  them.  This  is  a  very  primitive  survival,  as 
will  be  seen  later. 

The  solstitial  and  equinoctial  feasts  are  generally  observed, 
and  the  dole  to  the  dead  occurs  in  suggestive  form. 

Epiphany.  —  In  the  west  of  England,1  children  are  given 
cakes  in  remembrance  of  the  gifts  of  the  Magi. 

In  Normandy,  on  the  Sunday  following,  the  beggars  hold 
a  quest.  They  plead  their  poverty,  wish  the  listeners  Paradise, 
and  demand  La  part  du  bon  Dieu.  The  third  Sunday  after 
Epiphany  bears  the  self-explanatory  title  of  Fete  des  Rois 
Maures :  so  in  the  Beauce  on  January  6  the  president  of  the 
omnipresent  Epiphany  feast  presents  a  portion  to  the  bon  Dieu , 
and  gives  it  to  the  first  beggar  applying. 

In  Argentan  2  (Orne),  among  other  places,  the  gateau  des 
trois  rois  is  thus  dispensed:  the  youngest  of  the  party,  hidden 
under  the  table,  calls,  uPhoebe  Domine  pour  qui /” 

The  cake  is  cut,  and  of  course  the  one  who  gets  the  bean 
( la  feve)  is  the  lord  of  the  feast.  A  part  (la  part  du  bon  Dieu) 
is  set  aside  for  the  poor.  The  interest  centers  in  the  entrance  of 
the  poor  as  God’s  representatives,  to  whom  a  dole  or  gift  is 
made. 

In  the  Indre,,3  formerly,  after  la  part  de  Dieu  was  la  part 
des  absents .  This  was  kept,  and  the  state  of  preservation  be¬ 
tokened  that  of  the  members  of  the  family  afar. 

Among  the  Walloons 4  there  is  a  similar  custom;  and  be- 

1  Cf.  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  iv,  p.  40. 

2  Cf.  L.  Bonnem^re,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  ii,  p.  55. 

3  Cf.  P.  Sebillot,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  in,  p.  12. 

4  Cf.  J.  Lemoine,  Folk-Lore  au  Pays  Wallon,  p.  43. 


354 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


sides,  if  the  bean  is  found  in  God’s  portion,  an  auction  is  held, 
and  the  proceeds  are  given  to  the  first  poor  man  who  knocks. 

In  east  Prussia,1  boys  in  costume  make  a  quest,  singing  the 
song  of  the  Holy  Three  Kings,  and  asking  for  a  gift.  No 
plea  of  hardship,  save  that  of  “standing  on  stone,”  is  made;  but 
there  is  a  veiled  threat  in  a  reference  to  a  housewife  who  cuts 
so  near  as  to  endanger  her  finger. 

In  lower  Burgundy,2  on  Candlemas  (February  2),  as  well 
as  on  Shrove  Tuesday,  pancakes  are  made  and  given  under  the 
threat,  ,uLes  moucherons  vous  mangent  les  yeux  a  Paques” ;  and 
in  the  Yonne3  the  young  girls  make  a  quest  for  themselves, 
including  la  part  a  Dieu. 

Quests  and  doles  of  pancakes  for  Shrove  Tuesday  and  the 
carnival  are  too  numerous  to  mention  extensively.  Pancake  eat¬ 
ing  at  this  time  is  still  kept  up  in  parts  of  America. 

In  southern  England,4 5  quests  by  the  children  are  common; 
they  contain  a  plea  of  a  dry  mouth  or  of  dear  food.  The  threat 
is  sometimes  characteristic  — 

“If  your  hens  don’t  lay, 

I’ll  send  your  cock  away.” 

And  the  penalty  of  “Lent  crocking,”  or  throwing  shards  at  the 
doors,  was  a  very  real  one.s 

1  Cf.  J.  Von  Meden,  Zeitschrift  des  Vereins  fur  Volkskunde,  vn,  pp.  315  ff. ;  and  H. 
Frischbier,  Preussische  Volksreime,  p.  212. 

2  Cf.  P.  Salmon,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  vn,  p.  192. 

3  Cf.  N.  Quepat,  Melusine,  1,  p.  316. 

4  Dorset  and  Wilts  ( Chambers ,  1,  pp.  236  ff.)  ;  J.  W.  Powell,  Folk-Lore,  xii,  p.  81; 
P.  Manning,  Oxford  (Folk-Lore,  xiv,  pp.  167  ff.)  ;  Suffolk  ( Folk-Lore  Society,  p.  113, 
1895)  ;  Sheffield  (Denham  Tracts,  11,  p.  31). 

5  This  custom  with  us  takes  place  on  Halloween,  with  cabbage-stocks  in  place  of 
shards.  In  Italy  (Sorrento),  it  is  considered  a  compliment,  and  is  part  of  a  New  Year’s 
wish. 


CERTAIN  QUESTS  AND  DOLES 


3SS 

In  Saintonge, 1  Mardi-Gras  himself  makes  the  quest  for 

the  boys  — 

“C’est  mardi-gras  qu’  est  a  la  porte 
Qui  demande  des  crepes  molles.” 

And  in  Verdun  2  (Meuse) ,  on  Ash  Wednesday,  herrings  and  imi¬ 
tation  fritters  are  carried  on  fishpoles  in  a  masquerade,  and  are 
grabbed  for  eagerly  by  the  children.  This  is  a  core  le-zarengs 
or  courir  les  harengs. 

In  Prussian  Saxony  (Zeitz)  ,3  on  Monday  the  boys,  and  on 
Tuesday  the  girls,  go  about  striking  with  switches,  and  receiving 
presents  or  pretzels  in  return;  and  a  similar  custom  is  reported 
from  Silesia.4 

Finally,  a  whipping-quest  is  sung  in  Anhalt  by  the  children 
for  Ash  Wednesday.5  It  is  as  follows: 

“  Ascher- Aschermitterwoch ! 

Eine  Bretzel  gieb  mich  doch ! 

Thust  Du  mich  ’ne  Bretzel  geben 
Wiinsch  ich  Dich  ’n  langes  Leben.” 

This  trochaic  dimeter,  very  common  in  popular  poetry,  is  appro¬ 
priate  to  the  cracking  or  striking  of  the  whips. 

In  the  country  reaching  from  the  Jura  northward  down  the 
Rhine,  and  to  the  east  and  west  of  the  river,  the  first  Sunday  in 
Lent  has  long  been  connected  with  a  fire  and  cake  ceremony; 
after  the  bonfires  there  are  general  collations,  etc. 

1  Cf.  J.  L.  M.  Nogues,  Mceurs  Saintonge ,  p.  57. 

2  Cf.  F.  Fertiault,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  IV,  p.  160. 

3  Cf.  A.  Petzold,  Zeitschrift  des  Vereins  fur  Volkskunde,  X,  p.  142.  On  the  use  of 
pretzels  at  this  time,  cf.  Hofler,  Archiv  fiir  Anthropologies  1905,  pp.  103  ff. 

4  Cf.  A.  Baumgart  ibid.,  111,  p.  154. 

5  Cf.  O.  Hartung,  ibid.,  vii,  p.  75. 


356  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


On  March  21,  1090,  part  of  the  Larsch  cloisters  were  de¬ 
stroyed  by  fire  caught  from  a  burning  disk  thrown  by  some  one. 
Even  to  this  day  the  fire  ceremonies  are  kept  up  in  that 
vicinity.  After  these  the  young  folk  demand  and  are  given 
cakes  and  dried  fruit  (Hutzel).1 

In  Lorraine  2  first  comes  the  quest  for  fagots,  and  then  that 
for  fritters  — 

“Ohe,  la  mere,  preparez  les  beignets.” 

In  Liege3  a  former  curious  custom  is  reported:  “Les  ser- 
vantes  revenaient  manger  le  pain  de  leur  pere  le  jour  des  grands 
feux.”  The  fires  are  still  built.  Compare  with  this  the  present 
custom  in  Couvin,4  Belgium,  of  presenting  waffles  to  the  married 
children  on  this  day,  the  dimanche  du  grand  feu.  In  Malmedy,5 
Rhenish  Prussia,  the  young  men  used  to  go  about  en  masse  with 
wafers  in  beribboned  baskets  to  present  to  their  sweethearts.  In 
Alsace,6  after  the  fires  are  over  the  quest  is  made  thus  — 

“Jungfer  gen  is  Kiiechle 
S’  gfriert  mi  a  mim  fiiesle 
D’  schiliissel  hoer  iklingle 
D’  pfanne  hoer  i  krache 
D’  kiiechle  sin  gebache.” 

Various  names  are  given  the  festival.  The  general  title  is  Di¬ 
manche  des  Brandons ;  in  addition,  Fete  des  Sanciaux  (Cher),7 

1  Cf.  F.  Vogt,  ibid.,  ill,  1893,  pp.  350,  351. 

2  P.  Ristelhuber,  La  tradition,  in,  p.  118. 

3  Cf.  A.  Harou,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  xii,  p.  92. 

4  Cf.  C.  Bihot,  Wallonia,  x,  p.  40. 

5  Cf.  H.  Bragard,  ibid,  XII,  p.  66. 

6  Cf.  H.  Carnoy,  La  lradtiion,  V,  p.  359. 

7  Cf.  Lainsei  de  la  Salle,  I,  p.  38. 


CERTAIN  QUESTS  AND  DOLES 


357 


Dimanche  des  Piquerez  (Jura)  1  (Piquerez-pois  grilles) ,  Funk- 
ensonntag ,  Kuchlesonntag ,  Hutzelsonntagg  (Baden). 

Attempts  have  been  made  to  refer  the  origin  of  this  festival 
to  ancient  or  prehistoric  times.1 2  The  time  of  this  festival  varies 
from  February  8  to  March  14;  but  it  generally  takes  place  on 
February  25  (O.S.),  March  8  or  9  (N.S.).  This  brings  it  in 
close  proximity  to  the  vernal  equinox,  and  the  fires  are  probably 
a  reminiscence  of  one  of  the  old  Pagan  quarterly  celebrations. 
The  Roman  Lupercalia,  in  the  middle  of  February,  are  anal¬ 
ogous  in  their  striking  ceremony  to  the  whip  rites  of  Ash  Wednes¬ 
day  mentioned  above.  The  crowning  of  the  day  with  cakes  is 
but  a  natural  physical  consequence,  and  there  is  a  lack  of  his¬ 
torically  significant  cake-forms. 

At  Namur,3  as  lately  as  i860,  it  was  customary  on  March  12 
(St  Gregory)  for  the  schoolboys  and  their  master  to  make  a 
strenuous  quest  for  food.  They  went  in  procession,  with  two  to 
represent  the  saint  and  his  wife,  and  received  a  dole  from  the 
mothers  of  these  children.  As  a  reward,  the  wish  was  expressed 
that  the  givers  be  noire  cousine;  and  as  a  curse,  that  the  recusant 
go  aux  pourris  aguins.  They  received  Matou  (cylindrical  cakes) 
and  Koukebacks  (fritters). 

With  this  may  be  compared  the  dole  mentioned  by  Hofler  4 
in  the  German  Ulster  region,  where  the  children  now  represent 
the  poor,  who,  in  turn,  represented  the  departed  souls. 

1  Cf.  C.  Beauquier,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  in,  p.  73. 

2  Cf.  L.  de  la  Salle;  A  Lang,  Folk-Lore  Record,  1,  p.  103.  He  compares  the  lustra¬ 
tion  of  the  fields  in  Rome,  and  the  Hebraic,  Roman,  and  East  Indian  distribution  of  sacred 
cakes  (Liba). 

3  Cf.  L.  Loiseau,  IVallonia,  11,  p.  41. 

4  Cf.  art.  Bretzelgeback. 


358  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


In  parts  of  England,  the  fourth  Sunday  in  Lent  is  called 
“Mothering  Day.”  1  Children  return  to  their  mother’s  house 
and  offer  her  food. 

“I’ll  to  thee  a  simnel  bring  2 

’Gainst  thou  go’st  a-mothering. 

So  that  when  she  blesseth  thee, 

Half  that  blessing  thou’lt  give  me.” —  Herrick,  to  Dianeme. 

In  the  Craonnais  of  France,3  good  children  are  given 
goodies  by  the  mysterious  Mere  mi-careme.  The  author  sees 
traces  here  of  the  Roman  Cybele  festival,  the  Hilaria  on  March 
25.  The  idea  is  not  far-fetched.  Cybele  as  the  mother  of  the 
gods  may  be  faintly  remembered  in  the  English  customs  as  well. 
In  Franche  Comte,4  in  the  second  week  before  Easter,  the  chil¬ 
dren  quest  from  house  to  house,  singing  La  Passion ,  and  on 
wishing  Paradise  are  given  a  dole  as  to  pecheurs5  (sic). 

Holy  Week.  —  In  England,6  on  Palm  Sunday  it  was  the 
custom  to  throw  cakes  from  the  church-towers  to  the  children; 
and  in  Belgium,7  dainties  ( oublies )  were  carried  in  procession, 
and  caught  by  the  children.  Sacred  branches  are  still  distributed 
from  all  Catholic  churches.  The  cakes  caught  from  them  re¬ 
tained  some  of  the  imparted  virtue. 

1  Die  Faiths  and  Folk-Lore,  s.v.  Mothering. 

2  Simnels  were  also  in  vogue  on  Easter  and  in  Holy  Week.  The  name  occurs  in 
Lancashire  as  simblin  (that  is,  Simblin  Sunday,  the  fourth  Sunday  of  Lent).  It  is 
curious  to  note  that  in  Hingham,  Mass.,  “simbals”  are  used  for  “doughnuts,”  without  any 
idea  of  the  original  special  day,  or  of  the  fine  flour  of  which  they  were  composed. 

3  Cf.  Bellier-Dumaine,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  xiv,  p.  247. 

4  Cf.  C.  Beauquier,  ibid.,  XIV,  p.  175. 

5  Query,  "pecheurs"  ? 

6  Cf.  Chambers,  I,  p.  396. 

7  Cf.  Rcmsberg-Duringfeld,  Traditions  et  Legendes  Belgique,  I,  p.  212. 


CERTAIN  QUESTS  AND  DOLES 


359 

In  Silesia1  the  maidens  are  allowed  to  make  the  quest,  and 
receive  Zuckergeback  as  reward. 

In  Poitou  2  the  children  play  capiote  (tag),  and  the  child 
most  capiote  must  pay  a  cornue  (three-cornered  cake),  which  is 
sold  on  Holy  Thursday  at  the  church-door,  at  the  children’s 
benediction. 

In  Sardinia,3  on  Holy  Thursday,  as  well  as  at  other  times, 
a  dole  of  cocca  (soft  bread)  is  given  out  at  the  priories  to  the 
Brothers  and  Sisters  of  the  orders  on  pilgrimage. 

In  Franche  Comte,4 *  on  Holy  Thursday  and  Good  Fridaf 
the  sacristan  distributes  pains  be  nits,  which  are  bought  for  ten 
or  twenty  centimes,  and  these  are  kept  for  their  supernatural 
power.  A  curious  custom  at  Easter  is  reported  from  Monmouth¬ 
shire:  3  the  master  of  the  house  walks  about  the  fields  with  cake 
and  cider,  and  distributes  them,  saying,  “A  bit  for  God,  a  bit  for 
man,  and  a  bit  for  the  fowls  of  the  air.”  This  recalls  la  part 
de  Dieu ,  and  the  birds  as  representatives  of  the  dead,  among 
the  Permians.6  In  England  7  on  Ascensioon  Day,  after  a  sym¬ 
bolic  destruction  of  Satan,  the  priests 

“The  wafers  down  doe  cast, 

And  singing  cakes  the  while, 

With  papers  round  amongst  them  put 
The  children  to  beguile.” 

1  Cf.  Tetzner,  Globus,  1900,  p.  322. 

2  Cf.  L.  Pineau,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  IV,  p.  368. 

3  Cf.  Archivo  Tradizioni  Populari,  V,  p.  22. 

4  Cf.  C.  Beauquier,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  xiv,  p.  175. 

s  Cf.  H.  C.  Ellis,  Folk  Lore,  xv,  p.  221. 

6  Cf.  Sartori,  Speisung  der  Toten,  p.  34. 

7  Cf.  Faiths  and  Folk-Lore,  s.v.  Ascension  Day,  where  is  quoted  Googe  “Naogeorgus” 
(iS7o). 


360  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


At  Whitsuntide,  in  Alsace  at  Bouxwiller  1  a  boy  hidden  in 
leaves  is  marched  about  while  the  children  demand  food,  prin¬ 
cipally  eggs.  If  this  is  given,  they  promise  to  be  content;  if  not, 
they  threaten  to  send  the  marten  to  the  chicken-coop.  In  Anhalt,2 
on  Wednesday,  the  boys  make  a  food-quest  from  house  to  house. 
Afterwards  the  youths  and  maidens  dance  about  the  May-tree, 
and  there  is  a  feast.  Special  cakes,  Dunnen  Kuchen ,  are  in 
honor. 

The  Jura  is  as  rich  in  songs  of  the  May  as  in  Noels.3 4  Near 
Neuchatel,  on  the  first  Sunday  the  boys  and  girls  go  from  house 
to  house  singing,  and  imploring  the  materials  for  the  croutes 
dorees.  Instead  of  poverty,  they  plead  the  beauty  of  the  season; 
they  wish  a  blessing  for  the  givers,  and  promise  to  go  away. 

In  Armentieres 4  (Nord),  on  May  i,  nieulles  (wafers)  of 
all  colors  used  to  be  thrown  from  the  mayor’s  balcony. 

The  fires  of  St  John  (June  24)  are  the  most  striking  of  the 
prehistoric  quarterly  fire-feasts,  and  have  been  much  commented 
on.  Compare  Sudermann’s  “Johannisfeuer”  and  Georg’s  speech 
in  Act  III.5  Here  it  need  only  be  remarked  that  in  central 
France,6  on  St  John’s  eve,  every  family  contributes  wood  for 
the  fires,  and  later  takes  a  brand,  has  it  blessed,  and  preserves 
it.  This  is  known  as  a  camichon;  and  in  Paris  in  1573,  sweet¬ 
meats  called  camichons  were  in  vogue  on  St  John’s  Day. 

In  Girgenti,7  Sicily,  on  the  first  Sunday  in  July  (Feast  of 

1  Cf.  P.  Ristelhuber,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  xi,  p.  324. 

2  Cf.  O.  Hartung,  Zeitschrift  des  Vereins  fiir  Volkskunde,  vii,  p.  82. 

3  Cf.  F.  Chabloz,  Archives  Suisses,  11,  pp.  16  ff. 

4  Cf.  A.  Capon,  La  tradition,  m,  p.  150. 

5  Ed.  Cotta,  p.  97,  Stuttgart,  1901. 

6  Cf.  Laisnel  de  la  Salle,  1,  p.  83. 

7  Cf.  V.  Sclafani-Gallo,  Archivo  Tradizioni  Populari,  vi,  p.  76. 


CERTAIN  QUESTS  AND  DOLES 


361 


St  Calogero),  the  statue  of  the  saint  is  carried  in  procession  as 
it  passes  the  balconies.  Bread  is  thrown  at  its  face  and  is 
scrambled  for  by  the  crowd,  and  a  piece,  whenever  secured,  is 
considered  lucky. 

In  Champagne,1  on  August  10  (St  Laurence)  the  houses  are 
marked,  Aubade  de  St  Laurent.  On  the  following  Sunday 
they  are  again  visited,  and  the  lady  presented  with  a  bit  of  bun, 
in  return  for  which  she  is  expected  to  dole  out  food  or  money, 
failing  which  there  is  no  dance  for  her  at  the  forthcoming  ball. 

In  Styria,2  on  August  24  (St  Bartholomew)  the  mistress  of 
the  house  gives  to  each  member  the  Bartelmabutter  in  memory 
of  the  woman  who  helped  the  saint  in  misfortune. 

The  ceremonies  on  October  31  (Halloween),  November  1 
(All  Saints’),  and  November  2  (All  Souls’),  are  largely  con¬ 
nected  with  the  commemoration  of  the  dead.  How  far  some  of 
the  autumnal  harvest  traditions  and  the  autumnal  prehistoric 
festivals  may  influence  the  ceremonies  of  the  present  time  is  not 
clear,  but  this  is  comparatively  of  small  importance. 

Communion  with  the  departed  by  means  of  symbolic  feasts 
is  universal,  and  pertains  to  all  time.  For  detailed  examination 
we  may  consult  Sartori’s  article,  Die  Speisung  der  Toten,”3  and 
Hofler’s  articles.4  A  short  summary  of  the  matter  is  as  follows: 
The  dead,  especially  immediately  after  decease,  need  physical 
support,  need  sympathy,  and  need  to  be  appeased,  lest  they  come 

1  Cf.  F.  Fertiault,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires ,  vm,  pp.  470,  471. 

2  Cf.  K.  Weinhold,  Zeitschrift  des  Vereins  fiir  Volkskunde,  vm,  p.  439. 

3  Gymm.  zu  Dortmund,  Jahrbuch,  1902,  1903. 

4  Zeitschrift  des  Vereins  fiir  Volkskunde,  pp.  80  ff.,  430  ff.,  1902;  Archiv  fiir  Anthro- 
pologie,  1905,  pp.  94  if.  (Bretzelgeback) ;  Archiv  fiir  Anthropologie,  1906  (xxxm),  pp.  263 
ff.  (Hcrz)  ;  Archiv  fiir  Anthropologie,  1906  (xxxii),  pp.  130  ff.  (Haar)  ;  Archiv  fiir  An¬ 
thropologie,  1907  (xxxiv),  pp.  91  ff.  (Sterbefallen).  Cf.  Also  Hartland,  Legend  of  Per¬ 
seus,  II,  pp.  277  ff. 


362  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


back  and  make  trouble  for  the  survivors.  The  survivors  also 
feel  the  need  of  sympathy,  and  miss  the  companionship  of  the 
member  of  the  family  or  clan  which  they  have  lost:  hence  the  cus¬ 
toms  of  the  dole  of  food  to  the  dead.  This  may  be  given  and 
set  before  the  corpse  in  the  house,  or  given  on  the  way  to  the 
interment,  or  at  the  grave  itself.  A  common  meal  is  set  at  which 
the  dead  is  supposed  to  be  present,  either  before,  during,  or  after 
burial.  The  place  of  the  dead  may  be  taken  by  a  substitute  (an 
animal  or  another  person)  ;  in  the  latter  case  it  is  usually  one 
who,  like  the  deceased  himself,  is  peculiarly  under  divine  pro¬ 
tection,  —  the  poor,  crippled,  sick,  beggars,  strangers,  and  chil¬ 
dren.  Anniversary  feasts  for  the  dead  take  place  on  or  in  re¬ 
current  days,  weeks,  months,  or  years.  Through  the  establish¬ 
ment  of  All  Saints’  and  All  Souls’  by  the  church,  the  mortuary 
feasts  and  doles  in  modern  Europe  have  become  crystallized 
around  those  dates.  The  following  examples  may  prove  inter¬ 
esting. 

The  custom  of  feeding  the  corpse  before  burial  has  been 
observed  in  Borneo  and  the  Indian  Archipelago,  in  Japan,  China 
and  Korea,  India,  Armenia,  Russia,  France  (time  of  Louis 
XIV),  northwestern  North  America,  and  Brazil.  In  southern 
Hungary,  dried  plums  are  put  in  the  coffin  to  secure  a  good 
yield  from  the  trees.1 

In  parts  of  Switzerland  the  poor  offer  to  watch  the  corpse, 
and  are  given  food  and  drink,  especially  at  midnight.  In  Den¬ 
mark  2  it  was  the  custom  to  regard  the  corpse  as  host;  and  the 
guests  on  leaving  addressed  him,  “ Dank  fur  die  Mahlzeit .” 


1  Cf.  Sartori,  p.  12. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  8. 


CERTAIN  QUESTS  AND  DOLES 


363 


Among  the  Letts,1  when  the  coffin  is  placed  on  the  wagon,  food 
and  drink  are  placed  on  the  coffin  or  under  the  wagon  and  then 
given  to  beggars.  Among  the  Circassians,2  sheep  and  oxen  are 
placed  on  the  grave  and  given  to  the  guests  and  the  poor;  and 
the  Roman  Silicernium ,3  as  distinct  from  other  funeral  rites, 
seems  to  belong  here. 

A  list  of  animals  and  persons  that  may  represent  the  dead 
is  given  by  Sartori.  This  includes  dogs,  sheep,  crows,  ants, 
flies,  priests,  relatives,  contemporaries,  old  men  (?)  (Rome), 
the  first-comer,  the  poor,  cripples,  strangers,  and  children. 

In  Calymnos,4  cakes  called  kolyva,  bearing  the  image  of 
the  dead,  are  watched  over  in  the  house  with  two  candles,  then 
taken  to  church  and  there  distributed.  The  eating  of  these  cakes 
is  repeated  with  similar  ceremonies  on  the  third,  ninth,  and 
fortieth  days;  at  the  end  of  three,  six,  and  nine  months;  and  of 
one,  two,  and  three  years. 

The  Calymnos  custom  of  allowing  beggars,  strangers,  and 
children  to  eat  the  food  left  at  the  grave,  is  due  to  the  theory  of 
substitution;  elsewhere,  if  the  idea  of  representation  is  not  held, 
it  is  the  highest  sacrilege  to  partake  of  such  food. 

The  time  of  commemoration  is  not  confined  to  November  1. 
In  China,  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  seventh  month,  food  is  set 
for  blind  and  weak  souls.  Amongst  the  Wallachs,  on  the  name- 
day  of  the  house-saint,  places  are  left  at  the  table  for  the  departed 
ancestors;  and  among  the  Eranians,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  the 

1  Cf.  Sartori,  p.  9. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  19. 

3  Cf.  Forcellini  Lex.,  s.v.  Silicernium. 

4  Cf.  Hartland,  II,  pp.  288,  289. 


364  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


spirits  returned  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  food  and  clothes;  these 
were  the  perquisite  of  the  priest  and  children. 

In  Portugal  and  among  the  Votjaks,  Lent  is  the  memorial 
time. 

In  this  connection  may  be  noticed  the  custom,  very  frequent 
in  America,  of  sending  the  funeral  flowers  to  the  hospitals  after 
the  ceremony.  Those  carried  to  the  grave  are  generally  left  as 
a  fair  covering,  and  are  not  distributed. 

The  flowers  and  viands  placed  on  the  altar  on  high  feast- 
days  are  also  given  away,  and  carry  with  them,  possibly,  a  certain 
odor  of  sanctity. 

The  Easter  distribution  of  growing  plants  which  have  just 
been  set  in  the  church  is  a  feature  in  many  Boston  parishes. 

The  dole  of  good  things  sent  by  the  churches  at  Thanks¬ 
giving  is  analogous,  if  nothing  more,  to  the  All  Souls’  rites. 
This  feast  approaches  All  Souls’  in  time,  and  to  the  Puritan 
took  the  place  of  the  somewhat  riotous  rejoicings  of  October  31, 
that  are  our  inheritance  from  early  years. 

One  may  not  forget  the  decorating  of  graves  in  the  North 
and  South  on  Decoration  Day,  the  dole  of  flowers  to  the  sea 
in  New  England  in  memory  of  lost  sailors,  and  the  recurrent 
decoration  and  visitation  of  private  graves  by  members  of  the 
family. 

Finally,  some  lines  of  the  Cheshire  (England)  Souling 
Song  are  interesting.1  It  is  a  true  quest-song,  and  contains  most 
of  the  common  elements. 

The  demand  — 

“A  soul!  a  soul!  a  soul-cake! 

Please,  good  Misses,  a  soul-cake! 

1  Broadwood  and  Fuller-Maitland,  English  County  Songs,  pp.  30,  31. 


CERTAIN  QUESTS  AND  DOLES 


365 


An  apple,  a  pear,  a  plum,  or  a  cherry, 

Any  good  thing  to  make  us  all  merry. 

Down  into  the  cellar 
And  see  what  you  can  find 

We  hope  you  will  prove  kind 
With  your  apples  and  strong  beer. 

I’ve  got  a  little  pocket 
To  put  a  penny  in. 

If  you  haven’t  got  a  penny, 

A  ha’  penny  will  do.” 

The  blessing  — 

“God  bless  the  master  of  this  house, 

The  misteress  also, 

And  all  the  little  children 

That  round  your  table  grow; 

Likewise  young  men  and  maidens, 

Your  cattle  and  your  store, 

And  all  that  dwells  within  your  gates, 

We  wish  you  ten  times  more.” 

The  threat  (veiled)  — 

“If  you  haven’t  got  a  ha’  penny, 

It’s  God  bless  you.” 

That  is,  it’s  hard  luck  you’re  in. 

The  plea  — 

“The  lanes  are  very  dirty, 

My  shoes  are  very  thin.” 

The  beneficiaries  (sponsors  for  the  questers)  — 

“One  for  Peter,  two  for  Paul, 

Three  for  Him  who  made  us  all.” 


366  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  purpose  — 

“And  we’ll  come  no  more  a-souling 
Till  this  time  next  year.” 

The  significance  of  a  mortuary  song  is  quite  lost  in  the 
desire  to  be  made  all  merry. 

In  Dunkirk1  (Nord) , on  November  n  (St  Martin)  the  chil¬ 
dren  go  a-questing,  as  follows: 

“St  Martin,  boule,  boule,  boule. 

Donn’  des  croquandoules.” 

These  were  formerly  a  sort  of  macaroon;  now  they  are  made 
of  gingerbread. 

In  southeastern  Bohemia,2  women  in  white,  known  as  Bar- 
borky ,  go  about  distributing  good  things  to  good  children.  This 
feast  precedes  that  of  St  Nicholas,  on  December  6.  On  this  date 
the  saint  is  nearly  as  active  in  rewarding  good  children  as  his 
other  self,  disguised  as  Santa  Claus  or  even  the  Christ-child 
(Kriskringle) ,  is  on  Christmas  eve. 

In  Dinant,3  Belgium,  at  the  time  of  St  Nicholas,  the  famous 
couques  or  cakes  of  spelt-flour  and  honey,  weighing  from  five 
to  six  kilogrammes,  are  given  to  the  children;  they  represent 
the  saint  himself  in  form.  The  couques  are  much  in  vogue  else¬ 
where  in  Belgium,  at  other  seasons  and  in  other  shapes;  for 
example,  of  St  Lambert  at  Liege,  Ste  Perpete  at  Dinant,  fishes, 
animals,  bouquets  and  fruits,  bonshommes ,  and  old-fashioned 
ladies.  The  ancient  molds  which  date  from  the  twelfth  cen¬ 
tury  had  forms  of  helmetted  heads,  Roman  emperors,  and  mytho¬ 
logical  subjects. 

1  Cf.  Desrousseau,  Flandre  Franc,  I,  p.  69. 

2  M.  Rybak,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  XVIII,  p.  87. 

3  Cf.  A.  Hock,  Melusine,  1,  pp.  321  ff. 


CERTAIN  QUESTS  AND  DOLES 


367 


In  the  Gossensass  region  1  the  children  set  out  food  for  St 
Nicholas’  donkey,  and  pray  the  good  man  for  good  things  for 
themselves,  pleading  that  they  won’t  ask  much. 

In  Moravia,2  on  December  26  (St  Stephen)  the  Tcheks  re¬ 
member  the  servants  with  a  special  cake.  It  is  also  the  day  on 
which  the  servants  take  a  leave  of  absence;  elsewhere  the  Tchek 
girls  make  an  ornamented  cake,  which  is  enjoyed  by  both  girls 
and  boys  after  the  latter  have  cut  it. 

This  resume  is  incomplete  enough;  but  doles  at  baptisms 
and  marriages,  special  saints’  doles,  legacy  doles,  and  doles  of 
food  as  incantations,  or  the  reverse,  must  also  be  omitted. 

In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  the  variety  of  occasions, 
times,  and  seasons,  is  great,  but  that  there  is  a  striking  homogene¬ 
ity  in  method;  that  “psychic  unity”  and  tradition  have  acted 
together  to  produce  this  result,  and  that  even  the  higher  civiliza¬ 
tion  does  not  entirely  do  away  with  the  quests  and  doles  of 
older  times. 

Harvard  University 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts 


1  Cf.  M.  Rehsener,  Zeitschrift  des  Vereins  fiir  Volkskunde,  p.  396,  1896. 

2  Cf.  M.  Rybak,  Revue  des  traditions  populaires,  xvin,  p.  98. 


A  CURIOUS  SURVIVAL  IN  MEXICO  OF  THE  USE 
OF  THE  PURPURA  SHELL-FISH  FOR  DYEING 


BY 

Zelia  Nuttall 

DURING  a  recent  visit  to  the  town  of  Tehuantepec,  on 
the  isthmus  of  the  same  name,  the  writer  was  impressed 
by  the  remarkably  beautiful  purple  color  of  the  straight 
cotton  skirts  worn,  at  the  market  place,  by  some  women  who  ap¬ 
peared  to  be  in  better  circumstances  than  the  rest.  Like  the 
other  ordinary  skirts  so  gracefully  worn  by  the  native  women 
who  are  distinguished  for  their  slender  willowy  figures,  these 
purple  skirts  consist  of  a  straight  piece,  about  two  and  one-half 
or  three  yards  long,  formed  by  the  sewing  together  of  two  widths 
of  cotton  stuff.  This  skirt,  which  is  wound  about  the  bare  limbs, 
is  usually  finished  by  a  deep  fold  at  one  side  and  is  fastened  by 
a  separate  belt  or  sash  tightly  drawn  around  the  waist. 

Hand-woven  turkey-red  skirts,  with  narrow  black  or  white 
stripes,  costing  from  three  to  five  dollars  in  gold,  are  the  ones 
in  general  use.  The  purple  skirts  were  generally  plain,  but  a 
few  of  the  older  ones  exhibited  very  narrow  black  and  white 
lines.  In  all  of  the  many  purple  skirts  examined  by  the  writer, 
the  two  widths  were  united  by  a  fine  cross-stitching  of  orange  or 
yellow  cotton,  an  interesting  detail  which  revealed  a  refined 
recognition  of  complementary  coloring. 


Nuttaee — Purpura  Dyeing 


Peate  I 


TEHUANTEPEC  WOMEN  IN  NATIVE  COSTUME 


PURPURA  SHELL-FISH  FOR  DYEING  369 


Inquiries  elicited  the  information  that  these  purple  skirts 
were  named  “ de  caracolillo  ,”  that  they  were  dyed  by  means  of  a 
shell-fish,  and  that  their  fixed  market  value  was  not  less  than 
ten  dollars  gold.  The  mistress  of  a  primitive  weaving  establish¬ 
ment,  where  the  purple  stuff  is  woven  on  hand  looms,  to  order 
only,  explained  that  the  fixed  rate  for  the  dyed  purple  cot¬ 
ton  thread  was  five  dollars  per  pound,  and  that  as  a  pound 
and  a  half  was  needed  to  make  the  regulation  skirt,  this  left  but 
two  dollars  and  a  half  to  cover  the  expense  of  weaving  and 
of  the  fine  cotton  thread,  dyed  with  indigo,  of  which  the  woof 
consists.  She  showed  a  picturesque  basket  full  of  purple 
skeins  of  loosely  twisted  cotton  thread  which  had  just  been 
brought  back  to  her,  on  mule-back,  from  Huamelula,  a  small 
town  on  the  Pacific  coast,  whither  she  had  sent  it  some  months 
previously.  Lifting  one  of  the  thick  skeins,  she  slipped  it  over 
her  brown  left  wrist,  and  proceeded  to  show  how  she,  as  a 
child,  had  seen  the  fishermen  at  Huamelula  obtain  the  dye  from 
the  caracol  or  sea-snail. 

In  the  spring,  about  the  beginning  of  March,  the  latter 
started  in  boats  laden  with  cotton  skeins  and  went  northward 
along  the  coast,  visiting  certain  rocks  which  are  exposed  when 
the  tide  recedes.  Slipping  a  skein  over  his  left  wrist,  the  fisher¬ 
man  wrenches  one  sea-snail  after  another  from  the  wet  rocks, 
blows  on  it,  causing  it  to  exude  the  dye-stuff  which  resembles 
a  milky  froth,  and  then  dabs  the  cotton  thread  with  numerous 
shells  in  succession,  until  it  is  thoroughly  saturated.  When 
each  shell  had  yielded  its  small  supply  of  liquid  dye,  some 
fishermen  pressed  it  to  the  rock  and  waited  until  it  adhered  there¬ 
to,  but  others  laid  the  shell  in  a  pool.  When  treated  thus  the 


370 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


same  shells  yielded  a  second  though  diminished  supply  when  the 
rocks  were  visited  on  the  return  journey.  The  caracols ,  how¬ 
ever,  had  become  so  scarce  now  that  the  fishermen  were 
often  obliged  to  proceed  as  far  north  as  Huatulco,  or  even 
Acapulco,  in  order  to  fill  their  orders  and  dye  the  cotton 
thread  entrusted  to  them.  The  scarcity  of  the  fish,  the  great 
numbers  of  them  required  to  dye  a  pound  of  cotton,  and 
the  time,  patience,  and  labor  required,  amply  account  for 
the  comparatively  high  price  of  the  caracolillo  skirts.  Al¬ 
though  Tehuantepec  matrons  still  consider  one  of  these  some¬ 
what  in  the  light  that  our  grandmothers  regarded  a  black  silk 
dress,  as  associated  with  social  respectability  and  position,  fewer 
and  fewer  purple  skirts  are  ordered  every  year,  and  the  younger 
generation  of  women  favor  the  imported  and  cheaper  European 
stuffs.  Not  more  than  about  twenty  purple  garments  were  woven 
at  Tehuantepec  last  year,  and  it  is  probable  that  before  long  the 
industry  will  be  extinct. 

After  having  been  moistened  by  the  dye  fluid,  the  cotton 
thread  turned  green,  and,  when  exposed  to  and  dried  in  the  sun, 
the  green  turned  purple  and  became  permanent,  fading  only 
slightly  after  repeated  washings  and  then  assuming  a  pleasing 
delicate  violet  shade. 

A  disagreeable  feature  of  the  dye  obtruded  itself  upon  my 
notice,  namely,  the  strong  fishy  smell,  which  appears  to  be  as 
lasting  as  the  color  itself.  This  peculiarity,  which,  I  am  told, 
has  been  mentioned  by  a  classical  writer,  would  account  not 
only  for  the  disuse  of  the  Tyrian  purple,  but  also  for  the  ex¬ 
travagant  use  of  perfumes  by  the  Roman  emperors  and  all  those 
who  “wore  the  purple”  in  classical  antiquity. 


Nuttarl — Purpura  Dyeing 


Prate  II 


SPECIMEN  OF  CEOTH  DYED  WITH  PURPURA 


PURPURA  SHELL-FISH  FOR  DYEING  371 


Having  ordered  a  skirt  to  be  woven  for  me,  and  having 
persuaded  a  graceful  Zapotec  woman  to  sell  me  one  she  had 
had  in  use,  I  departed  from  Tehuantepec,  absorbed  in  thought 
upon  an  industry  which  was,  to  me,  invested  with  all  the  romance 
and  charm  of  historical  and  classical  associations.  Here  was 
almost  an  extinct  survival  of  an  ancient,  primitive  method  of 
dyeing  similar  to  that  practised  by  the  Phenicians  not  only  at 
Sidon  and  Tyre,  but  in  the  islands  of  Cythera,  Thera,  and  Crete, 
v/hich  were  also  “main  seats  of  the  purple  trade.” 

Whatever  differences  there  might  be  between  the  American 
and  the  Mediterranean  species  of  the  shell-fish,  it  seemed  to  me 
that  no  purple  could  be  more  suggestive  of  royalty  than  the 
beautiful  and  intense  violet  of  the  native  purple  stuff  which  is 
worn  today,  almost  as  a  badge  of  nobility,  by  some  of  the  hand¬ 
some  Tehuantepec  women.  I  had  the  impression,  however,  that 
it  is  the  general  belief  among  scholars  that  in  the  Old  World  the 
secret  of  obtaining  the  dye  had  long  been  lost  and  that  only 
in  comparatively  recent  times  has  the  species  of  Murex  which 
furnishes  the  Tyrian  purple  been  identified  from  its  descrip¬ 
tion  by  Pliny.1  The  Tehuantepec  survival  of  a  primitive  method 
of  extracting  the  dye  from  an  allied  species  of  sea-snail  seemed 
to  me  to  be  vested  with  a  particular  interest  and  value. 

Once  at  home,  among  my  books,  I  searched  for  documentary 
evidence  concerning  the  industry  I  had  observed,  and  ascertained 

1  “In  the  days  of  the  Roman  Conquests  in  the  east  the  Tyrian  purple  was  reserved 
under  penal  statutes  for  imperial  use;  its  production  declined  and  eventually  both  the 
material  and  the  art  of  using  it  were  lost.  From  Pliny’s  description  modern  investigators 
were  enabled  to  rediscover  the  shell-fish  which  yielded  the  dye,  but  the  colors  furnished 
were  neither  so  bright  nor  so  permanent  as  those  obtainable  from  much  less  costly  dyeing 
material.”  —  Encyclopedia  Britannica. 


372 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


that  the  subject  had  been  thoroughly  treated  by  Professor  von 
Martens,  the  late  distinguished  director  of  the  Berlin  Zoological 
Museum,  in  a  monograph  read  before  the  Berlin  Anthropologi¬ 
cal  Society  on  October  22,  1898. 

In  this  valuable  contribution  the  writer  referred,  somewhat 
cursorily,  to  the  testimony  of  the  English  Jesuit  priest  Thomas 
Gage,  and  the  Spanish  brothers  George  John  and  Antonio  de 
Ulloa,  who  record  that  the  port  of  Nicoya  in  Costa  Rica  was  a 
seat  of  the  purple  industry  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries.  Their  evidence  deserves  to  be  quoted  at  length  and 
at  first-hand.  Thomas  Gage  wrote  in  1836  as  follows: 

“About  Chira,  Golfo  de  Salinas  and  Nicoya,  there  are  some  farms  of 
Spaniards,  few  and  very  small  Indian  towns  who  are  all  like  slaves  employed  by 
the  Alcalde  Maior,  to  make  him  a  kind  of  thred  called  Pita,  1  which  is  a  very 
rich  commodity  in  Spain,  especially  of  that  color  wherewith  it  is  dyed  in  these 
parts  of  Nicoya,  which  is  a  purple  color;  for  the  which  the  Indians  are  here  much 
charged  with  work  about  the  seashore,  and  there  to  find  out  certain  shells,  where¬ 
with  they  make  this  purple  dye.  Purpura  is  a  kind  of  shell-fish  whose  usual 
length  of  life  is  seven  years.  He  hides  himself  about  the  rising  of  the  Dog-star 
and  so  continues  for  300  days.  It  is  gathered  in  the  spring  time  and  by  a 
mutual  rubbing  of  one  or  other  of  them  together,  they  yield  a  kind  of  thick 
slime  like  soft  wax,  but  its  famous  dye  for  garments  is  in  the  mouth  of  the  fish 
and  the  most  refined  juice  is  in  a  white  vein.  The  rest  of  his  body  is  void  and 
of  no  use.  Your  Segovia  cloth  dyed  therewith  for  the  richness  of  the  color  is 
sold  at  five  or  six  pound  the  yard,  and  used  only  by  the  greatest  Dons  of  Spain 
and  in  ancient  times  only  worn  by  the  noblest  Romans  and  called  by  the  name 
of  Tyrian  purple.  There  are  also  shells  for  other  colors,  which  are  not  known 
to  be  so  plentifully  in  any  other  place  as  here.”  2 

In  their  Historical  Relation  of  the  Voyage  to  Central  Am- 


1  Pita  is  made  of  agave  fiber. 

2  A  New  Survey  of  the  W est-Indias,  London,  1655,  P-  x93- 


PURPURA  SHELL-FISH  FOR  DYEING  373 


erica,  published  in  Madrid  in  1748,  the  Ulloa  brothers  give  the 
valuable  data  of  which  the  following  is  a  translation: 

.  .  In  the  port  of  Nicoya  .  .  .  this  shell  is  used  for  dyeing 

cotton  threads  which  are  subsequently  employing  for  making  and  embroidering 
ribbons,  laces,  and  other  fine  needlework. 

“Different  modes  of  extracting  the  dye  fluid  are  employed.  Some  persons 
sacrifice  the  life  of  the  animal  in  doing  so.  They  extract  it  from  its  shell  by 
placing  it  on  the  back  of  one  hand  and  with  a  knife  held  in  the  other  press  it 
with  a  small  knife,  squeezing  the  dye  from  its  head  into  its  posterior  extremity, 
which  is  then  cut  off,  the  body  being  cast  away.  After  having  treated  a  great 
number  of  shells  in  this  way,  and  collected  the  dye  in  a  vessel,  the  cotton  threads 
are  passed  through  this.  .  .  .  ”  1 

Interrupting  the  Ulloa  relation,  I  would  mention  here  that 
the  above  appears  to  have  been  the  method  practised  by  Mediter¬ 
ranean  people,  for  I  have  learned  from  Dr  Arthur  Evans  of  the 
existence,  on  the  coast  of  Crete,  of  great  heaps  of  broken  Murex 
shells.  Moreover,  Professor  von  Martens  mentions  the  broken 
shells  of  two  varieties  of  Murex  found  in  large  quantities  on 
the  ancient  sites  of  Sidon  and  Tarent,  both  ancient  well-known 
centers  of  the  purple  industry.  I  recall  also  how  some  classical 
author  describes  certain  women  as  “slowly  stirring  the  purple 
dye  in  bowls.” 

It  is  obvious  that  this  destructive  method,  besides  impairing 
the  purity  of  the  dye  fluid,  would  lead  to  the  gradual  extermina¬ 
tion  of  the  purpura  in  Mediterranean  countries,  and  make  the 
collecting  of  the  shell-fish  more  and  more  laborious  and  hazard¬ 
ous.  The  industry  was  probably  in  its  decline  when  a  Roman 
emperor  issued  an  edict  exempting  from  taxation  all  fishermen 
who  devoted  themselves  to  collecting  the  Murex. 


1  The  illustration  of  the  Purpura  lapillus  contained  in  vol.  xvi  of  the  Encyclopedia 
Britannica  indicates  that  the  purple  is  secreted  in  the  small  “adrectal  purpuriparous  gland.” 


374 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


No  doubt  it  was  experience  that  led  to  the  adoption  of  the 
more  conservative  method  of  procuring  the  dye,  described  by 
Thomas  Gage,  by  my  informant  at  Tehuantepec,  and  as  follows 
by  Ulloa  —  a  further  advantage  being  the  greater  purity  and 
therefore  intensity  of  the  color  obtained: 

“Others  extract  the  humor  by  means  of  compression  without  killing  the 
animal.  They  do  not  extract  it  entirely  from  its  shell,  but  squeeze  it,  making 
it  vomit  forth  the  dye.  They  then  place  it  on  the  rock  whence  they  took  it  and 
it  recovers,  and  after  a  short  time  gives  more  humor,  but  not  as  much  as  at 
first.  If  the  operation  is  repeated  three  or  four  times,  the-  quantity  extracted  is 
very  small  and  the  animal  dies  of  exhaustion.” 

Ulloa  relates  how,  in  1744,  he  observed  the  first  method 
described,  adding  that  even  in  regions  where  the  Indians  have 
practice  in  catching  the  shell-fish  and  where  these  occur  in 
great  quantities,  the  industry  was  not  commonly  practised  be¬ 
cause,  as  a  great  quantity  of  shell-fish  is  necessary  to  dye  even  a 
few  ounces  of  thread,  the  latter  is  seldom  to  be  procured,  and 
is  held  in  high  value  on  account  of  its  scarcity.  Ulloa  records 
the  curious  current  belief  that  the  cotton  thread  varied  in  weight 
and  color  according  to  the  hour  in  which  it  was  dyed.  He  also 
adds  that  linen  did  not  absorb  the  dye  like  cotton  thread,  and 
suggests  the  desirability  of  making  a  series  of  experiments  not 
only  with  linen  but  with  silk  and  wool.  In  conclusion  Ulloa 
informs  us  that  in  Central  America  the  dyed  cotton  thread  was 
known  as  caracolillo ,  the  name,  be  it  observed,  I  found  in  use  at 
Tehuantepec  at  the  present  time. 

Returning  to  Professor  von  Martens’  monograph,  I  shall 
now  present  the  valuable  data  it  contains,  summarizing  some 
parts  and  translating  others  in  full. 


PURPURA  SHELL-FISH  FOR  DYEING  375 


Through  the  courtesy  of  Dr  Henry  Pittier,  formerly  of 
San  Jose,  Costa  Rica,  Professor  von  Martens  obtained  specimens 
of  the  purpura  and  of  cotton  thread  dyed  therewith  in  Nicoya 
by  the  Indians,  who  “simply  draw  the  thread  across  the  mouth  of 
the  shell.”  Professor  von  Martens  identified  the  shells  as  “the 
Purpura  patula  (Linnaeus  and  Lamarck),  which  is  plentiful 
in  the  West  Indies  and  also  occurs  on  the  Pacific  coast  of  Central 
America.”  He  continues  as  follows: 

“Although  the  marine  fauna  of  the  western  coast  of  America  is  so  funda¬ 
mentally  different  [to  that  of  the  eastern  coast],  this  purpura  patula  introduces 
an  Adantic  element  into  the  Pacific  which  indicates  (paleontologically  speak¬ 
ing)  a  comparatively  recent  connection  between  both  oceans.” 

Professor  von  Martens  further  teaches  us  that  the  Purpura 
patula  resembles  the  Purpura  haemastoma  of  the  Mediterranean, 
which  is  still  used  by  the  fishermen  of  Minorca  to  mark  their 
linen  clothing. 

A  third  variety  of  the  same  species  is  the  Purpura  lap  ill  us 
of  the  North  Sea,  which  was  used  in  the  sixteenth  and  seven¬ 
teenth  centuries  by  the  peasantry  of  some  parts  of  Scotland  and 
Norway  to  dye  their  linen  scarlet.  The  true  purpura  of  the 
Phenicians  and  Greeks  belongs  to  another  but  allied  species  of 
Murex ,  namely,  Murex  trunculus  and  brandaris.  The  Pacific 
coast  variety  was  identified  as  a  purpura  in  1742  by  the  French 
conchologist  Dezallier  d’Argenville,  who  speaks  of  its  use  for 
dyeing  purposes  and  designates  it  as  the  Conque  persique  of  the 
Indian  ocean.  Bruguiere  in  1789  and  Lamarck  in  1803  dis¬ 
tinguished  the  Purpura  persica  from  the  Purpura  patula  of  the 
Pacific  coast,  Lamarck  citing  P.  persica  as  the  first  and  P.  patula 
as  the  third  variety  of  the  Purpura. 


376  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


After  referring  to  the  testimony  of  Thomas  Gage  and  the 
Ulloa  brothers,  which  I  have  given  above  at  greater  length,  Pro¬ 
fessor  von  Martens  continues:  “I  am  not  acquainted  with  any 
earlier  data  concerning  this  purpura  industry,  but  the  foregoing 
authorizes  the  question  whether  the  employment  of  the  shell-fish 
for  dyeing  purposes  was  an  independent  and  precolumbian  in¬ 
vention  of  the  Indians  or  was  introduced  by  the  Spaniards.” 
Professor  von  Martens  rightly  concludes  that  the  industry  was 
practised  in  America  in  prehistoric  times,  because  “at  the  period 
of  its  discovery  the  purple  Murex  dye  had  long  been  superseded 
in  Europe  by  the  use  of  the  more  brilliant  scarlet  obtained 
from  the  coccus  insect,  the  only  survival  of  the  use  of  the  shell¬ 
fish  being  that  of  the  Minorca  fishermen  already  mentioned. 
The  latest  record  of  ‘purple  hats  and  purple  trains’  is  dated  1440, 
a  few  years  before  the  Osman  conquest,  and  is  contained  in  a 
reference  to  the  court  at  Byzantium  which  clung  to  the  customs 
of  antiquity.  In  1467,  Pope  Paul  II  introduced  scarlet  as  the 
color  to  be  worn  by  cardinals  as  equals  in  rank  to  kings.  Vasco 
de  Gama  presented  to  the  first  Indian  king  he  met,  as  a  present 
from  his  monarch,  not  a  purple  but  a  red  kerchief  from  Venice; 
and  also  clothed  himself  in  scarlet  at  this  audience,  in  which  he 
represented  his  king.  ...  If  the  Spaniards  had  introduced  this 
dyeing  industry  into  America,  they  would  surely  have  done  so 
on  the  islands  and  coasts  of  the  Carribean  sea,  in  Hayti,  Cuba, 
and  Venezuela,  where  the  ‘purpura  patula’  abounds  and  where 
Spanish  influence  was  felt  earlier  and  more  thoroughly  than  on 
the  Pacific  coast  of  Central  America.  The  present  survival  in 
Costa  Rica  conveys  more  the  impression  of  being  an  expiring 
survival  than  a  thriving  industry  introduced  by  the  Spaniards.” 


PURPURA  SHELL-FISH  FOR  DYEING  377 


Through  Professor  Eduard.  Seler  and  his  talented  wife, 1 
Professor  von  Martens  received  information  of  the  industry  at 
Tehuantepec,  and  was  shown  not  only  a  purple  skirt  from  there 
but  also  kerchiefs  with  purple  stripes  such  as  are  worn  by  the 
Huave  Indians,  to  the  southwest  of  Tehuantepec. 

On  examining  some  of  the  only  precolumbian  textiles  in 
existence,  those  of  Peru,  which  owe  their  preservation  to  the 
dry  atmosphere  of  that  country,  Professor  von  Martens  found, 
in  the  Royal  Ethnographical  Museum  in  Berlin,  a  garment  and 
some  bands  with  narrow  stripes,  the  color  of  which  is  identical 
with  that  of  the  Huave  kerchiefs.  He  also  noticed  the  same  in 
textiles  from  Chimboto,  preserved  in  the  Bolivar  collection,  and 
“other  more  bluish  stripes  (which  hue  may  possibly  be  due  to 
a  different  method  of  using  the  same  dye),  or  red  ones  the  color 
of  which  recalled  the  cochineal.” 

Professor  von  Martens’  conclusion,  based  on  the  foregoing, 
is  “that  the  dye  of  the  Purpura  shell  was  used  in  America  in 
precolumbian  times.” 

Before  proceeding  to  state  certain  facts  and  my  endorsement 
of  Professor  von  Martens’  conclusion,  I  should  like  to  present 
the  valuable  information  he  gives  us  of  the  use,  alongside  of 
each  other  and  in  the  New  and  the  Old  World  alike,  of  two  other 
shell  products,  namely,  the  conch-shell  trumpets  and  pearls: 

“It  is  well  known  that,  among  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  espec¬ 
ially  in  poetry  and  mythology,  the  shell  trumpet  played  a  prominent  part.  Its 
use  survives  at  the  present  day  in  certain  localities  in  southern  France,  Elba, 

1  In  her  interesting  book  of  travel,  Auf  alien  Wegen  in  Mexico  und  Guatemala,  Ber¬ 
lin,  1900,  Frau  Cecilia  Seler  mentions  the  purple  skirts  and  purple  industry  of  Tehuantepec. 
Both  she  and  her  husband  record  that  the  fisherman  spat  on  the  shell-fish  in  order  to  make 
it  exude  the  dye,  which  statement  must  be  based  on  misinformation,  as  it  is  obvious  that 
this  procedure  would  dilute  and  thus  seriously  affect  the  intensity  of  the  dye. 


37B  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Corsica,  and  Sicily,  for  the  summoning  of  fishermen  and  field  laborers.  In  the 
last  century  the  Corsican  militia,  under  Paoli,  employed  them  instead  of  drums 
or  trumpets.  European  explorers  found  them  in  actual  use  in  East  India,  Japan, 
and,  by  the  Alfurs,  in  Ceram  (East  Indian  archipelago),  the  Papuans  of  New 
Guinea,  as  well  as  in  the  South  Sea  islands  as  far  as  New  Zealand. 

“Although  the  shells  used  were  of  a  different  variety  to  the  Mediterranean 
Tritonium,  they  were  all  of  the  same  species,  excepting  in  the  East  Indies  where 
the  Turbinella  was  employed.  It  is  possible  that  the  use  of  shell  trumpets  in  the 
West  Indies,  Peru,  and  Brazil,  as  well  as  the  use  of  the  S trombus  gigas  by  the 
negro  slaves  in  the  Danish  West  Indian  islands,  may  have  been  introduced  from 
the  Old  World. 

“On  the  other  hand,  Professor  Seler  has  shown  me  a  precolumbian  drawing, 
from  Mexico,  of  a  personage  blowing  a  conch-shell  trumpet.  Moreover,  Pro¬ 
fessor  Seler  has  collected,  in  several  parts  of  Mexico,  prehistoic  trumpets  made 
of  the  Fasciolaria  gigas  and  Turbinella  scolyinus  from  the  Caribbean  sea,  and  the 
Fasciolaria  princeps  from  the  Pacific  ocean.  The  Jesuit  priest  Arriaga,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  describes  the  use  of  shell  trumpets  in  Peru, 
and  in  the  Bolivar  collection  belonging  to  the  Berlin  Ethnographical  Museum 
there  is  a  precolumbian  trumpet  made  of  Strornbus  galeatus. 

“The  Portuguese  writer  Suarez  de  Sousa,  in  1589,  and  Marcgrave,  about 
1640,  report  on  the  use  of  trumpets  in  Brazil,  made  of  what  I  surmise  to  be 
Strornbus  goliath,  closely  allied  to  Strornbus  gigas,  which  is  found  on  the  coast 
of  Pernambuco.” 

Professor  von  Martens  states  his  belief  that  the  conch-shell 
trumpet  could  just  as  well  have  been  independently  devised  at 
various  times  and  in  various  places.  He  confesses,  however, 
that  the  idea  of  employing  the  large  conch-shell  as  a  trumpet 
would  not  easily  suggest  itself,  especially  as  a  second  opening 
had  first  to  be  made  in  the  shell  before  it  could  be  blown. 

“The  appreciation  of  pearls  in  America  is  unquestionably  precolumbian. 
On  his  third  voyage  along  the  coast  of  Venezuela,  Columbus  saw  Indian  women 
wearing  strings  of  pearls  on  their  arms,  and  therefore  bestowed  the  name 


PURPURA  SHELL-FISH  FOR  DYEING  379 


Margarita  upon  this  region.  Balboa,  who  was  the  first  European  to  reach  the 
South  sea  [Pacific  ocean],  was  immediately  presented  with  beautiful  pearls  by  an 
Indian  chieftain.  In  the  account  of  De  Soto’s  voyage  of  discovery  to  Florida 
and  Alabama  in  1540,  mention  is  made  of  temples,  containing  such  quantities 
of  pearls  that  the  Spaniards  were  not  able  to  carry  all  away  with  them.  1  The 
latter  were  presumably  pearls  from  the  fresh-water  species  named  Unio.  But 
those  presented  to  Columbus  and  Balboa  undoubtedly  were  derived  from  varie¬ 
ties  of  the  species  Avicula  (Meleagrina) ,  which  since  ancient  times  has  supplied 
the  pearls  fished  for  in  the  Indian  ocean,  the  Persian  gulf,  and  the  Red  sea.” 

To  the  above  interesting  and  exact  information  Professor 
von  Martens  adds: 

“It  is  obvious  that,  having  once  been  found  by  chance  in  a  shell  which  had 
been  fished  for  food,  they  would  attract  attention,  and  any  one  having  leisure 
or  being  able  to  command  the  labor  would  easily  have  hit  upon  the  plan  to 
hunt  for  them  systematically.  Similarly  the  roaring  sound  heard  when  the 
large  conch-shells  are  held  to  the  ear  would  have  naturally  stimulated  the  hearer 
to  make  other  phonetic  experiments  with  such  shells.” 

Continuing  in  the  same  strain,  the  learned  Professor  states: 

“In  the  case  of  the  Purpura  sea-snail  the  first  step  may  have  been  its  collec¬ 
tion  for  food,  and  when,  subsequently,  beautifully  colored  stains  appeared  on  a 
garment  which  had  come  in  contact  with  the  living  animal,  the  natural  sequence 
would  be  further  experimentation.” 

It  can  but  strike  one  as  strange  that  so  eminent  an  investi¬ 
gator  as  Professor  von  Martens  should  not  seem  to  have  realized 
what  an  enormous  gap  exists  between  the  primitive  but  clothed 
fisherman  who  first  discovered  pleasing  stains  on  his  raiment  and 
the  carrying  out,  by  a  great  number  of  men,  of  a  laborious  indus¬ 
try  which  simply  ministered  to  esthetic  and  luxurious  tastes  such 
as  are  usually  indulged  in  by  members  of  a  privileged  class  in 
ancient  and  highly  organized  communities.  In  the  same  way 

1  Mention  should  be  made  here  of  the  quantities  of  fresh-water  pearls  which  Pro¬ 
fessor  F.  W.  Putnam  found  on  altars  in  the  mounds  excavated  by  him  in  Ohio. 


380  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Professor  von  Martens  makes  the  extraordinary  statement  that 
he  is  “far  from  wishing  to  infer  from  their  use  of  the  purpura 
that  the  American  aborigines  are  descended  from  the  Pheni- 
cians,”  quite  ignoring  the  distinction  to  be  made  between  the 
separate  problems  of  “the  origin  of  the  American  race”  and  “the 
possibilities  of  precolumbian  contact  between  the  Old  and  the 
New  World.” 

Having  now  presented  what  has  been  published  concerning 
the  purple  industry  in  Central  America,  I  shall  revert  briefly 
to  certain  points  of  particular  interest.  To  Professor  von  Mar¬ 
tens’  conclusive  evidence  that  the  use  of  the  shell-fish  was  not 
introduced  by  the  Spaniards,  but  was  in  vogue  in  America  in 
precolumbian  times,  I  would  add  the  following  striking  con¬ 
firmation: 

In  the  ancient  Mexican  codex  which  belongs  to  Lord 
Zanchu  and  has  been  named  after  me,  a  beautiful  purple  paint 
is  profusely  used.  It  contains  pictures  of  no  fewer  than  thirteen 
women  of  rank  wearing  purple  skirts,1  and  five  with  capes  and 
jackets  of  the  same  color.  In  addition,  forty-six  chieftains  are 
figured  with  short,  fringed,  rounded  purple  waist-cloths,  and 
there  are  also  three  examples  of  the  use  of  a  close-fitting  purple 
cap.  Moreover,  the  codex  also  contains  representations  of  thir¬ 
teen  personages  whose  bodies  and  faces  are  painted  purple,  and 
of  five  whose  bodies  only  are  purple,  their  faces  being  painted 
with  other  colors.  In  one  case  it  is  a  prisoner  who  is  thus  de¬ 
picted.  In  another  a  wholly  purple  person  is  offering  a  young 
ocelot  to  a  conqueror  (page  4 7),  an  interesting  fact,  considering 

1  Eight  of  these  skirts  are  perfectly  plain,  like  those  usually  worn  by  the  Tehuantepec 
women  of  today,  while  the  other  five  are  finished  with  handsome  variegated  borders  and 
fringes. 


PURPURA  SHELL-FISH  FOR  DYEING  381 


that  ocelot-skins  were  usually  sent  to  the  Aztec  capital  as  tribute 
by  the  Pacific  coast  tribes  of  southern  Mexico. 

On  pages  1  and  14  of  the  codex,  the  priests,  bearing  either 
staffs,  the  sacred  bundle  for  igniting  the  new  fire,  or  torches,  and 
conch-shell  trumpets,  are  figured  with  purple  body  and  face 
painting.  It  is  noteworthy,  in  this  connection,  that  the  high 
priest  who,  on  page  78,  is  shown  as  actually  twirling  the  fire- 
sticks  and  performing  the  sacred  rite,  wears  a  closely  fitting 
purple  cap.  Throughout  the  codex  the  same  color  appears  in 
combination  with  others  in  ornamental  designs  and  figures. 

The  shade  of  the  purple  paint  used  is  identical  with  that 
of  the  purpura  dye,  and  until  it  is  demonstated  to  us  that  the 
native  artists  obtained  this  color  from  some  now  unknown  min¬ 
eral  or  vegetal  dye,  it  may  be  assumed  that  they  also  used  the 
purpura  dye  in  preparing  their  paint  and  in  depicting  person¬ 
ages  with  body  paint  and  garments  dyed  by  means  of  the  same 
shell-fish. 

Professor  von  Martens  has  observed  that  in  the  New  World 
as  in  the  Old  the  purple  industry  is  closely  associated  with  the 
use  of  pearls  and  of  the  artificially  devised  conch-shell  trumpet. 
I  would  likewise  point  out  that,  whereas  we  find  it  recorded 
that  the  enterprising  Phenicians  and  their  descendants  estab¬ 
lished  in  the  Old  World  not  only  stations  for  the  purple  industry, 
but  also  others  for  the  mining  of  copper,  gold,  and  silver,  so  we 
find  that,  in  precolumbian  times,  the  Zapotecs,  whose  descendants 
still  use  the  purpura,  were  famed  as  miners,  as  workers  in  copper, 
gold,  and  silver,  as  weavers,  and  as  enterprising  traders  who  trav¬ 
elled  far  and  wide,  trafficking  with  these  products  and  the  cocoa- 
bean.  In  the  home  of  these  native  merchants,  the  State  of 


382  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Oaxaca,  which  includes  Tehuantepec  and  Huamelula,  the  pres¬ 
ent  seat  of  the  purple  industry,  copper  was  prepared  for  trans¬ 
portation  in  enormous  quantities,  in  the  shape  of  a  kind  of  double 
scraper.  Copper  axes  and  other  implements  are  also  numerous. 
The  ancient  Zapotec  goldsmiths  and  silversmiths  are  reputed  to 
have  been  extremely  skilful,  and  existing  specimens  in  the  col¬ 
lection  of  Dr  Sologuren  confirm  their  reputation. 

Costa  Rica,  where,  at  Nicoya,  the  purple  industry  still  sur¬ 
vives,  owes  its  name  to  its  extraordinary  mineral  wealth.  In 
Oaxaca,  as  elsewhere  in  Mexico,  and  in  Central  and  South  Am¬ 
erica,  the  natives  themselves  disclaim  their  independent  dis¬ 
covery  of  all  arts  and  industries,  attributing  them  to  a  foreign 
culture-hero,  identical  with  the  personage  who,  according  to 
Aztec  tradition,  landed  at  Panuco  with  a  band  of  followers. 
These  aliens,  who  became  a  ruling  caste  and  from  whom  Monte¬ 
zuma  claimed  descent,  instituted  a  tetrarchical  form  of  govern¬ 
ment  which  was  still  in  existence  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  con¬ 
quest  and  was  the  counterpart  of  ancient  Greek  tetrarchies. 
They,  moreover,  established  order  and  ruled  communal  life  by 
means  of  an  admirable  calendar  which  embodies  the  artificial 
conception  of  the  existence  of  four,  the  so-called  “Empedoclean” 
elements,  and  an  advanced  application  of  the  “science  of  num¬ 
bers”  in  cyclical  form.1 

Whatever  interpretation  may  be  made  of  the  foregoing 
data  (and  there  will  always  be  differences  of  opinion  on  so  vast 
and  intricate  a  subject),  it  can  scarcely  be  ignored  that,  in  the 
Old  and  the  New  World  alike,  are  found,  in  the  same  close  asso- 

1  In  my  paper  entitled  “Some  Unsolved  Problems  in  Mexican  Archaeology,”  American 
Anthropologist,  N.  S.,  vol.  8,  No.  1,  Jan. -March,  1906,  the  above  points  are  discussed  at 
length. 


PURPURA  SHELL-FISH  FOR  DYEING  383 


ciation,  (1)  the  purple  industry  and  skill  in  weaving;  (2)  the 
use  of  pearls  and  of  conch-shell  trumpets;  (3)  the  mining, 
working,  and  trafficking  in  copper,  silver,  and  gold;  (4)  the 
tetrarchical  form  of  government;  (5)  the  conception  of  “Four 
Elements”;  (6)  the  cyclical  form  of  calendar.  Those  scholars 
who  assert  that  all  of  the  foregoing  must  have  been  developed 
independently  will  ever  be  confronted  by  the  persistent  and  un¬ 
assailable  fact  that,  throughout  America,  the  aborigines  unani¬ 
mously  disclaim  all  share  in  their  production  and  assign  their 
introduction  to  strangers  of  superior  culture  from  distant  and 
unknown  parts. 

Those  who  know  how  little  the  enervating  climate  of  Mexico 
and  Central  America  is  conducive  to  sustained  intellectual  and 
physical  exertions  will  not  be  inclined  to  doubt  the  truth  of  the 
native  traditions.  Nor  will  it  appear  likely  to  them  that,  under 
such  adverse  conditions,  the  aborigines  should  have  been  able 
to  develop  along  parallel  lines  with  the  most  alert  and  enterpris¬ 
ing  people  of  antiquity,  the  Mediterranean  seafarers,  and  evolve 
not  only  the  same  tetrarchical  form  of  government  and  artificial 
theories  respecting  the  elements,  but  attain  (though  handicapped 
by  a  total  ignorance  of  cursive  numerals)  a  mathematical  profici¬ 
ency  which  created  the  admirable  cyclical  calendar  system  used 
by  them,  institute  extensive  trading  and  indulge  in  the  identi¬ 
cal  luxuries,  such  as  gold,  silver,  pearl,  and  precious  stone  orna¬ 
ments,  besides  decorative  textiles  and  purple  dyes  which  entailed 
hard  labor  to  the  producer  and  pandered  to  a  highly  developed 
esthetic  sense  only. 

It  seems  almost  easier  to  believe  that  certain  elements  of 
ancient  European  culture  were  at  one  time,  and  perhaps  once 


384  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


only,  actually  transmitted  by  the  traditional  small  band  of  pos¬ 
sibly  lost  or  shipwrecked  Mediterranean  seafarers,  than  to  ex¬ 
plain  how,  under  totally  different  conditions  of  race  and  climate, 
the  identical  ideas  and  customs  should  have  arisen. 

Both  views,  however,  present  obvious  and  seemingly  insur¬ 
mountable  difficulties,  and  we  must  place  our  trust  in  time  and 
further  discoveries  to  solve  the  deeply  interesting  but  baffling 
problem  of  precolumbian  contact  or  no  contact  at  all. 

Casa  Alvarado, 

Coyoacan,  D.  F.,  Mexico 


GOTAL  —  A  MESCALERO  APACHE  CEREMONY 


BY 

Pliny  Earle  Goddard 

A  SHORT  account  of  a  particularly  interesting  ceremony 
was  obtained  from  an  aged  Mescalero,  named  Trias, 
through  the  influence  and  by  the  assistance  of  Marion 
Simms,  a  young  man  of  education  and  wealth.  Trias  is  the  last 
priest  of  the  chief  rites  of  the  ceremony.  When  he  supplied  the 
information  in  the  fall  of  1906  he  was  almost  totally  blind,  and 
his  memory  was  failing.  The  account  rendered  in  the  Mesca¬ 
lero  dialect  of  the  Apache  was  accompanied  by  nearly  one 
hundred  songs  belonging  to  the  ceremony,  together  with  several 
of  the  prayers.  The  aged  priest  sang  the  songs  first,  since  he 
seemed  to  remember  both  their  order  and  content  more  readily 
when  they  were  accompanied  by  the  tune,  and  then  repeated 
the  significant  words  slowly  and  distinctly  that  they  might  be 
recorded. 

It  is  in  these  songs  that  the  chief  value  and  interest  both 
for  the  Indian  participant  and  the  white  investigator  center. 
It  is  hoped  that  they  may  be  published  in  due  time  as  texts 
with  accompanying  translations.  Except  in  a  few  cases  the  re¬ 
frains  of  meaningless  syllables,  in  which  as  a  frame  the  signifi¬ 
cant  words  are  set,  were  not  obtained.  It  is  greatly  regretted 
that  the  music  can  not  also  be  presented.  There  was  delay  in 
procuring  a  phonograph,  and  when  it  did  arrive  Trias  was  at 


386  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


some  distance  from  the  agency,  the  weather  was  disagreeable, 
and  unfriendly  influences  had  changed  the  old  man’s  attitude. 

It  would  appear  at  first  glance  that  the  ceremony  is  only 
one  of  those  most  common  and  most  widely  distributed  ceremon¬ 
ies  for  adolescent  girls.  Perhaps  it  is  chiefly  that,  but  a  study 
of  the  songs  indicates  that  it  is  also  a  dramatic  representation 
of  the  creation  and  of  the  annual  and  diurnal  re-creations  which 
come  to  the  world.  Its  celebration  is  expected  to  result  not  only 
in  a  fortunate  life  for  the  maiden  about  whom  it  happens  to 
center,  but  in  the  general  welfare  of  the  community. 

The  Athapascan  peoples  of  the  southern  division  seem  to 
possess  in  common  that  portion,  at  least,  of  the  myth  of  origin 
which  clusters  about  a  divine  woman  and  her  culture-hero  son, 
or  sons,  as  given  by  Matthews  in  The  Navaho  Origin  Legend. 
Both  the  San  Carlos  and  the  Mescalero  Apache  have  practically 
the  same  story  of  the  supernatural  generation  of  the  hero,  and 
tell  of  the  same  exploits  in  nearly  the  same  order  by  means  of 
which  the  foes  of  mankind  were  conquered.  IsdjanaLijn,  the 
virgin  goddess  mother,  is  impersonated  in  this  ceremony  by  the 
adolescent  girl  who  is  painted  and  dressed  to  represent  her.  In 
the  songs  and  prayers,  however,  her  equally  divine  son,  Nayen- 
ezganin,  usually  occupies  the  first  place.  It  was  he  who  first 
built  a  sacred  lodge  and  celebrated  the  ceremony. 

That  these  two  are  connected  with  the  sun  and  moon  is 
made  plain  by  direct  assertion,  as  well  as  by  the  adjectives  and 
phrases  descriptive  of  them.  Evidently  they  are  much  more 
than  the  chief  luminaries  which  constitute  but  one  form  of  their 
expression.  They  are  the  male  and  female  forces  which  made 
and  still  maintain  the  world.  It  seems  to  be  the  art  instinct,  the 


A  MESCALERO  APACHE  CEREMONY  387 


love  of  balance  and  contrast,  which  lies  behind  this  dualism, 
rather  than  the  necessity  for  a  generative  pair;  for  the  relation¬ 
ship  is  that  of  mother  and  son. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  find  anywhere  literary  productions 
in  which  sense  is  sacrificed  in  a  greater  degree  to  pure  mathe¬ 
matical  art.  Those  familiar  with  Southwestern  thought  know 
how  great  a  part  the  number  four  plays.  It  has  abundant  place 
in  this  ceremony.  In  addition,  balance  and  parallelism  are 
secured  by  dividing  nearly  all  the  songs  into  two  equal  parts, 
symmetrical  but  effectively  contrasted.  These  contrasts  are 
chiefly  male  and  female,  above  and  below,  shimmering  and  steady 
shining,  blue  and  white,  large  and  slender,  sunbeams  and  rain¬ 
bows,  flower  and  fruit,  sky  and  earth.  Often  a  song  of  six  stanzas 
has  its  two  parts  of  three  stanzas  each  identical  except  for  these 
contrasted  words  and  the  name  of  the  sun  or  moon  to  which  they 
are  applied.  The  stanzas  which  make  up  the  two  parts  are  fre¬ 
quently  identical  except  that  other  names  for  sun  and  moon  are 
employed  in  them.  The  songs  themselves  are  for  the  greater 
part  arranged  in  sets  of  fours,  which  however  are  capable,  in 
many  cases,  of  extension  to  six. 

The  ceremony  may  be  held  at  any  time  of  the  year.  It 
begins  with  the  building  of  a  sacred  lodge.  Four  trees  are  first 
selected  for  the  main  poles.  The  priest  strews  pollen  around 
them  in  a  sunwise  direction  and  applies  a  circle  of  pollen  to  the 
trunks  where  the  cutting  is  to  take  place.  Pollen  is  used  to  form 
a  cross  in  the  holes  dug  to  receive  the  posts.  When  the  trees 
have  been  cut  and  trimmed  they  are  placed  parallel  on  the  east 
side  with  their  tops  toward  the  south.  Yellow  flowers  are  placed 
on  each,  beginning  at  the  butt  and  proceeding  toward  the  tip, 


388  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


to  which  additional  flowers  are  tied.  While  the  poles  thus  pre¬ 
pared  are  held  erect  by  helpers,  the  priest  standing  at  the  east 
sings  four  songs,  the  first  of  which  is  as  follows: 

Nayenezganin’s  male  lodge-poles  of  blue  are  tied  with  a  sunbeam. 

Isdjanaidjn’s  female  lodge-poles  of  white  are  tied  with  a  rainbow, 

The  second  time  they  are  placed  together. 

Nayenezganin’s  male  lodge-poles  of  yellow  are  tied  with  a  sunbeam, 

The  third  time  they  are  placed  together. 

IsdjanaLijn’s  female  lodge-poles  of  black  1  are  tied  with  a  rainbow, 

The  fourth  time  they  are  placed  together. 

Four  additional  songs  are  sung,  probably  to  celebrate  the 
completion  of  the  lodge,  which  is  accomplished  by  filling  in  be¬ 
tween  the  main  poles  with  others  and  with  brush  and  weeds. 
The  priest  prepares  a  place  for  the  fire,  at  the  corners  of  which 
he  places  four  painted  stones.  For  tending  the  fire  he  provides 
four  painted  sticks. 

Toward  evening,  when  all  is  in  readiness,  the  priest  leaves 
his  place  back  of  the  fire  and  goes  out  to  meet  the  adolescent 
girl,  who  approaches  from  the  east.  She  holds  an  eagle-feather 
in  her  hand.  The  priest  conducts  her  to  a  place  by  his  side 
within  the  lodge,  four  stops  being  made  on  the  way.  Eight 
songs  are  probably  sung,  four  in  going  and  four  while  returning. 
One  of  these  Trias  omitted,  breaking  the  symmetry.  The  second 
song,  evidently  sung  as  the  priest  leaves  the  lodge,  is  as  follows: 

With  the  power  which  streams  from  the  lodge  of  Djingonaaihn,  I  walk; 

With  the  power  which  streams  from  the  lodge  of  Isanagaihn,  I  walk; 

With  the  power  which  streams  from  the  lodge  of  Bikegojoni,  I  walk. 

1  The  colors  blue,  white,  yellow,  and  black  are  the  world-quarter  colors  for  east, 
south,  west,  and  north  in  order  as  the  posts  in  those  directions  are  secured.  This  is  differ¬ 
ent  from  the  order  followed  by  the  Navaho,  who  use  white  for  the  east  and  blue  for  the 
south. 


A  MESCALERO  APACHE  CEREMONY  389 


With  the  power  which  streams  from  the  lodge  of  Lenaaihn,  I  walk; 

With  the  power  which  streams  from  the  lodge  of  Isanagaihn,  I  walk; 

With  the  power  which  streams  from  the  lodge  of  Bikegojoni,  1  I  walk. 

The  main  part  of  the  ceremony  now  begins.  It  consists  of 
four  nights  devoted  to  prayers  and  songs,  with  frequent  accom¬ 
paniment  of  dancing  by  the  girl.  The  priest  is  provided  with 
small  sticks,  which  he  places  about  the  fire  in  an  erect  position 
beginning  at  the  east.  Each  stick  marks  the  singing  of  a  song. 
After  four  have  been  sung,  he  sings  a  tobacco  song,  smokes  cere¬ 
monially,  and  utters  a  prayer.  A  stick  is  placed  horizontally 
next  to  the  four  vertical  ones.  During  the  first  night  from  twen¬ 
ty  to  thirty  songs  are  sung,  occupying  only  the  early  hours  of  the 
night.  The  next  two  nights  the  ceremony  is  the  same,  except 
the  songs,  which  are  those  next  in  sequence.  The  fourth  night 
the  priest  begins  the  songs  again  and  sings  those  of  the  three 
previous  nights  all  in  their  proper  order.  By  employing  four  or 
six  songs  in  a  set  he  is  able  to  prolong  or  shorten  the  time  con¬ 
sumed  so  as  to  finish  at  dawn,  whether  the  ceremony  take  place 
in  the  summer  or  winter.  The  general  character  of  these  songs 
is  illustrated  by  the  following  selections: 

The  Seventeenth  Song 

Djingonaaihn,  his  child  I  make, 

H  is  face  blue  I  make, 

His  body  shimmering  I  make, 

Beautiful  I  make. 


i  Of  the  names  used,  Djingonaaihn  and  Lenaaihn  mean  respectively  the  ones  who 
have  position  in  the  sky  in  the  daytime  and  at  night.  Isanagaihn,  which  is  employed  as 
a  secondary  name  of  both  sun  and  moon,  seems  to  mean  “swift  or  great  traveler,”  and 
Bikegojoni  may  be  rendered  either  as  “his  feet  beautiful”  or  “his  footprints  beautiful.” 


390 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Isanagaihn,  his  child  I  make, 

His  face  blue  I  make, 

His  body  shimmering  I  make, 
Beautiful  I  make. 

Bikegojoni,  his  child  I  make, 

His  face  blue  I  make, 

His  body  shimmering  I  make, 
Beautiful  I  make. 

Lenaaihn,  her  child  I  make, 

Her  face  white  I  make, 

Her  body  shining  I  make, 

Beautiful  I  make. 

Isanagaihn,  her  child  I  make, 

Her  face  white  I  make, 

Her  body  shining  I  make, 

Beautiful  I  make. 

Bikegojoni,  her  child  I  make, 

Her  face  white  I  make, 

Her  body  shining  I  make, 

Beautiful  I  make. 

The  Twenty-second  Song 

NiyeLndizganin  a  large  sunflower  put  aside, 
Nayenezganin,  power  became  one-fold. 
IsdjanaLijn  a  slender  sunflower  put  aside, 
IsdjanaLijn,  power  became  two-fold. 
Nayenezganin  a  large  sunflower  put  aside, 
Nayenezganin,  power  became  three-fold. 
IsdjanaLijn  a  slender  sunflower  put  aside, 
IsdjanaLijn,  power  became  four-fold. 
Nayenezganin  a  large  sunflower  put  aside, 
Nayenezganin,  power  became  five-fold. 


A  MESCALERO  APACHE  CEREMONY  391 


IsdjanaLijn  a  slender  sunflower  put  aside, 
IsdjanaLijn,  power  became  six-fold. 
Nayenezganin  a  large  sunflower  put  aside, 
Nayenezganin,  power  became  seven-fold. 
IsdjanaLijn  a  slender  sunflower  put  aside, 
IsdjanaLijn,  power  became  eight-fold. 
Nayenezganin  a  large  sunflower  put  aside, 
Nayenezganin,  power  became  nine-fold. 
IsdjanaLijn  a  slender  sunflower  put  aside, 
IsdjanaLijn,  power  became  ten-fold. 
Nayenezganin  a  large  sunflower  put  aside, 
Nayenezganin,  power  became  eleven-fold. 
IsdjanaLijn  a  slender  sunflower  put  aside, 
IsdjanaLijn,  power  became  twelve-fold. 

The  Thirty-seventh  Song,  Descriptive  of  Dawn 

Djingonaaihn’s  child  is  to  be  born.  His  child  is  born. 
With  a  face  that  is  blue  it  is  born. 

With  a  body  that  shimmers  it  is  born. 

I  reach  the  foot  of  the  blue  mountain  of  the  sun. 

Isanagaihn’s  child  is  to  be  born.  His  child  is  born. 
With  a  face  that  is  blue  it  is  born. 

With  a  body  that  shimmers  it  is  born. 

I  am  climbing  the  blue  mountain  of  the  sun. 


Bikegojoni’s  child  is  to  be  born.  His  child  is  born. 

With  a  face  that  is  blue  it  is  born. 

With  a  body  that  shimmers  it  is  born. 

I  have  reached  the  summit  of  the  blue  mountain  of  the  sun. 

Lenaaihn’s  child  is  to  be  born.  Her  child  is  born. 

With  a  face  that  is  white  it  is  born. 

With  a  body  that  shines  it  is  born. 

I  reach  the  foot  of  the  white  mountain  of  the  sun. 


392 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Isanagaihn’s  child  is  to  be  born.  Her  child  is  born. 

With  a  face  that  is  white  it  is  born. 

With  a  body  that  shines  it  is  born. 

I  am  climbing  the  white  mountain  of  the  sun. 

Bikegojoni’s  child  is  to  be  born.  Her  child  is  born. 

With  a  face  that  is  white  it  is  born. 

With  a  body  that  shines  it  is  born. 

I  have  reached  the  summit  of  the  white  mountain  of  the  sun. 

The  Fifty-third  Song.  Sung  the  last  morning  as  the  sun  rises 

The  black  turkey-gobbler,  under  the  east,  the  middle  of  his  tail;  toward  us  it  is 
about  to  dawn. 

The  black  turkey-gobbler,  the  tips  of  his  beautiful  tail ;  above  us  the  dawn  whitens. 
The  black  turkey-gobbler,  the  tips  of  his  beautiful  tail;  above  us  the  dawn  be¬ 
comes  yellow. 

The  sunbeams  stream  forward,  dawn  boys,  with  shimmering  shoes  of  yellow; 
On  top  of  the  sunbeams  that  stream  toward  us  they  are  dancing. 

At  the  east  the  rainbow  moves  forward,  dawn  maidens,  with  shimmering  shoes 
and  shirts  of  yellow  dance  over  us. 

Beautifully  over  us  it  is  dawning. 

Above  us  among  the  mountains  the  herbs  are  becoming  green ; 

Above  us  on  the  tops  of  the  mountains  the  herbs  are  becoming  yellow. 

Above  us  among  the  mountains,  with  shoes  of  yellow  I  go  around  the  fruits  and 
herbs  that  shimmer. 

Above  us  among  the  mountains,  the  shimmering  fruits  with  shoes  and  shirts  of 
yellow  are  bent  toward  him. 

On  the  beautiful  mountains  above  it  is  daylight. 

The  third  portion  of  the  ceremony  begins  with  the  painting 
of  a  red  disk,  to  represent  the  sun,  on  the  palm  of  the  priest. 
Four  sunbeams  radiate  toward  the  fingers  and  four  more  toward 
the  wrist.  This  he  applies  four  times  to  the  crown  of  the  girl’s 
head.  He  then  paints  white  lines  outward  from  each  corner  of 
her  mouth  and  puts  yellow  pollen  on  her  forehead.  All  the 


A  MESCALERO  APACHE  CEREMONY  393 


women  and  children  present  are  painted  by  the  priest.  The 
right  sides  of  their  faces  are  painted  red  and  the  left  sides  are 
dusted  with  pollen.  Red  paint  is  also  applied  to  the  soles  of 
their  feet  and  to  their  breasts.  Appropriate  songs  are  sung  as 
the  various  things  are  done.  The  paints  are  praised  in  phrases 
similar  to  those  attributed  to  the  sun  and  moon. 

Finally  the  priest  approaches  the  girl  and  transfers  the 
eagle-feather  from  his  hand  to  hers.  He  lifts  her  up  and  leads 
her  outside  the  lodge,  four  stops  being  made.  There  are  special 
songs  for  the  withdrawal.  Before  her  where  she  stops  facing 
the  east  a  buffalo  blanket  is  spread.  On  this  the  priest  draws 
four  tracks  with  pollen  and  four  with  red  iron  rust.  The  girl 
crosses  the  blanket,  stepping  on  the  painted  foot-prints,  and  then 
runs  four  times  around  a  basket,  in  which  eagle-feathers  have 
been  placed.  A  number  of  children  run  about  with  her  and 
pass  her  the  feathers.  She  is  then  bidden  to  run  to  an  indicated 
tree  or  bush.  When  she  reaches  this  she  is  expected  to  go  to  her 
home.  As  she  reaches  this  goal  and  turns,  the  four  poles  of  the 
lodge  are  dropped  to  the  ground  with  their  tips  toward  her. 

Later  the  girl  brings  a  basket  of  fruit  to  the  priest,  who 
places  some  of  it,  together  with  pollen,  in  her  mouth.  Until 
this  is  done  she  is  not  allowed  to  eat.  A  horse  or  other  valuable 
property  is  presented  to  the  priest  as  pay  for  his  services. 

During  the  four  nights  of  singing  and  prayer  within  the 
lodge,  another  ceremony  is  conducted  without.  Diverging  walls 
are  built  out  from  the  door  of  the  lodge.  Here  a  fire  is  main¬ 
tained,  about  which  dance  men  dressed  to  represent  the  gods  of 
the  mountains,  called  Ganhi.  One  of  their  number  is  dressed 
and  acts  as  a  clown.  A  special  priest  who  knows  the  songs  is  in 


394 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


charge  of  the  rites.  A  drum  of  cowhide  is  beaten  to  mark  the 
time  for  the  dancing. 

Trias  did  not  know  this  part  of  the  ceremony.  A  very  aged 
man  who  does  know  it,  when  approached  readily  agreed  to  give 
the  desired  information  and  to  sing  the  songs.  The  next  morn¬ 
ing  he  was  unwilling,  saying  the  Ganhi  had  appeared  to  him  and 
forbidden  him  to  disclose  the  rites.  From  this  decision  he  could 
not  be  shaken. 

There  is  little  profit  in  the  discussion  of  the  connections  of 
a  single  ceremony  of  this  sort  when  the  religious  life  of  the 
surrounding  peoples  is  so  little  known.  The  erection  of  a  sacred 
lodge  which  seems  to  typify  the  world,  and  the  sentiment  of 
many  of  the  songs  so  frankly  directed  to  the  sun,  suggest  the 
Sun  Dance  of  the  plains.  The  great  importance  attached  to 
the  songs  and  the  dramatic  representations  of  the  gods  recall 
the  healing  ceremonies  of  the  Navaho.  The  Mescaleros  had 
other  rites  more  suggestive  of  these,  in  which  sand-paintings 
played  a  part.  The  virgin  mother  and  her  divine  son  allow  a 
suggestion  of  Christian  influence.  This  appears  to  be  less  rather 
than  more  than  we  should  naturally  expect  when  we  consider 
that  the  Mescaleros  have  been  longer  in  semicontact  with  Euro¬ 
pean  civilization  than  have  the  natives  of  any  other  part  of  the 
United  States.  So  little  is  it  in  fact  that  even  that  is  probably 
apparent  rather  than  real. 

Where  one  finds  so  much  of  rich  art  remaining  under  such 
adverse  circumstances,  he  wonders  how  much  of  a  similar  or 
superior  sort  has  forever  perished  through  the  indifference  of 
man  to  any  other  art,  literature,  or  religion  than  his  own. 

University  of  California 
Berkeley 


THE  CAYAPA  NUMERAL  SYSTEM  1 


BY 


S.  A.  Barrett 


HE  INDIANS  commonly  known  as  the  Cayapa,2  though 


this  is  a  name  foreign  to  their  language,  live  chiefly 


along  the  very  tortuous  river  of  the  same  name,  Rio 
Cayapas,  for  about  fifty  or  sixty  miles,  and  along  its  tributaries. 
These  streams  are  in  the  extreme  northwestern  part  of  Ecuador 
and  empty  into  the  ocean  near  the  villages  of  Limones  and  La 
Tola.  Also  very  small  numbers  of  these  people  reside  on  Rio 
Verde,  at  Pueblo  Viejo  de  Cayapas,  and  at  one  or  two  other 
points.  The  mode  of  life  of  the  Cayapa  has  been  little  altered 
by  civilization,  though  their  territory  has  been  encroached  upon 
and  reduced  by  it. 

The  houses  of  the  Cayapa  are  scattered  at  short  intervals 
all  along  the  streams  above  mentioned,  each  house  having  one 
or  more  clearings  adjacent  in  which  are  grown  plantains  (the 


1  The  notes  on  and  analysis  of  Cayapa  numerals  here  given  are  based  on  the  accom¬ 


panying  table  of  numbers,  which  runs  to  10,000.  Only  one  informant  could  carry  the 
count  above  a  few  thousands,  but  there  seems  no  doubt  that  the  higher  thousands  here 
given  are  correct. 

2  Through  the  generous  provision  of  Mr  George  G.  Heye  of  New  York  City,  who  for 
several  years  past  has  maintained  archaeological  expeditions  in  Ecuador,  the  present  eth¬ 
nological  work  among  this  interesting  and  primitive  people  was  commenced  last  July  with 
the  object  of  making  a  study  of  their  life  and  culture.  All  these  investigations  in  Ecuador 
are  under  the  direction  of  Professor  Marshall  H.  Saville. 


396  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


chief  food  of  this  people),  bananas,  sugar-cane,  pineapples,  cot¬ 
ton,  and  various  other  useful  plants.  These  houses  are  raised 
from  six  to  ten  feet  off  the  ground  owing  to  the  extreme  dampness 
due  to  the  excessive  precipitation  of  the  region.  There  are  no 
constantly  inhabited  villages.  The  three  so-called  pueblos  of 
the  Cayapa  are  used  only  as  places  of  assembly  for  fiestas. 

The  women  weave  textiles,  make  pottery,  and  weave  baskets, 
fans  and  mats,  besides  doing  a  large  part  of  the  work  in  the 
fields.  The  chief  work  of  the  men  is  the  making  of  dugout  ca¬ 
noes,  at  which  labor  they  are  very  skilful.  The  canoe  is  perhaps 
the  most  frequently  used  and  important  possession  of  a  family,  for 
on  account  of  the  dense,  impenetrable  forests  which  cover  this 
particular  region  water  travel  only  is  feasible  until  the  higher 
mountains  are  reached,  when  it  becomes  no  longer  possible.  This 
renders  canoe-making  and  canoeing  one  of  the  most  important 
features  of  Cayapa  culture,  and  the  use  of  the  paddle  is  learned 
by  both  sexes  in  earliest  childhood. 

Their  whole  life,  situated  as  they  are  in  their  tropical  jungle 
and  on  the  banks  of  a  great  river  upon  which  they  rely  in  many 
ways,  is  of  much  interest  from  the  standpoint  of  material  culture. 
Also  many  other  interesting  features  present  themselves,  and  it  is 
with  one  of  these,  their  numeral  system,  that  it  is  intended  here 
to  deal. 

The  Cayapa  numeral  system  is  a  quinary-decimal-centenary 
one  with  certain  variations,  to  be  noted  later,  and  the  rules  upon 
which  it  is  based  are  well  fixed  and  regular.  In  it  there  are 
certain  points  of  special  interest.  One  of  these  is  its  centenary 
nature,  according  to  which  their  is  no  separate  term  for  thousand ; 


THE  CAYAPA  NUMERAL  SYSTEM 


397 


but  hundred  is  used  as  the  base  of  all  numbers  from  ioo  up,  thus 
making  a  number  like  4000  forty  hundreds,  not  four  thousands. 

Also,  there  appear  two  terms  which  show  what  may  be  re¬ 
garded  as  traces  of  other  systems,  though  on  account  of  the  lack 
of  other  terms  in  support  of  these  systems,  they  must  be  treated 
as  only  possibilities.  Four  is  formed  upon  the  base  two,  thus 
showing  what  may  be  a  trace  of  a  binary  system;  but  this  is  the 
only  evidence  of  such  a  system  found  in  the  whole  series  of  num¬ 
bers.  Especially  significant  in  considering  this  term  is  the  fact 
that  three  exists  independently  of  two,  and  thus  points  strongly 
to  a  system  higher  than  the  binary.  The  second  extraneous  term 
is  twenty,  which  appears  entirely  unrelated  to  any  of  the  other 
numbers,  either  lower  or  higher.  This  might  be  taken  as  a  trace 
of  a  system  of  vigesimal  nature,  but  it  lacks  even  so  much  sup¬ 
port  as  four  and  the  binary  system  for  it  has  not  even  one  other 
number  of  a  form  in  any  way  resembling  it.  On  the  other  hand, 
though  two  other  terms  of  the  system  are  held  in  common  with 
a  neighboring  language,  the  terms  for  four  and  twenty  do  not 
show  this  indication  of  possible  borrowing  either  by  one  people 
or  the  other. 

An  unusual  feature  here  shown  is  the  use  of  two  distinct 
terms  for  the  same  number  in  two  different  parts  of  the  system. 
This  occurs  in  ten,  where  pa  it  a  is  used  up  to  nineteen;  and 
tcu'nga ,  apparently  a  borrowed  term,  from  thirty  up. 

The  order  given  to  the  figures  of  the  various  denominations 
is  as  follows : 

All  compound  numbers  from  ten  up  which  contain  a  figure 
of  the  units  order  have  this  as  the  final  term.  Thus  thirteen  is 


393  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


ten  three.  The  numbers  six  to  nine  are  compounds  of  five  with 
the  four  lower  numbers.  Here  the  same  rule  is  followed  and 
the  numbers  one  to  four  are  terminal. 

In  all  tens  and  in  all  hundreds,  which  in  this  system  in¬ 
clude  the  thousands  also,  the  term  tens  or  hundreds  is  the  final 
one,  being  preceded  by  the  number  of  tens  or  hundreds  in  the 
numeral  in  question.  Thus  40  is  four  tens,  400  is  four  hundreds, 
and  4000  is  forty  hundreds. 

In  no  case  is  there  found  anything  in  the  nature  of  a  con¬ 
nective  term  between  the  parts  of  a  compound  number. 

Following  the  phonetic  laws  of  the  language,  certain  terms, 
if  not  used  as  the  ultimate  ones,  are  changed  when  they  occur  in 
a  compound  numeral.  Thus  pe'ma  is  the  unit  three,  and  pa  it  a 
pema  is  thirteen,  but  pe'n  tcunga  is  thirty.  So  far  as  two  and 
three  are  concerned,  the  change  is  regular  and  universal.  One 
changes  in  the  hundreds  place  in  the  numerals  one  hundred  to 
one  hundred  ninety-nine,  and  in  six  when  this  occurs  as  a  terminal 
figure.  Five  has  three  forms.  According  to  these  phonetic 
laws  also,  these  numbers,  when  occurring  in  units  or  in  the  units 
place,  undergo  the  same  changes  if  followed  by  other  terms  pos¬ 
sessing  the  necessary  sounds.  Thus,  in  the  sentence  “he  has  three 
new  ollas,”  ya-tcl  kasa  pe'n  plama  hun ,  literally  “his  new  three 
ollas  has,”  the  change  of  form  of  the  numeral  is  necessary. 
Equally  correct,  however,  is  ya-tcl  kasa  plama  pema  hun ,  in 
which  the  surrounding  sounds  do  not  necessitate  the  change.  It 
appears  also  that  the  numbers  two  and  three,  and  perhaps  one 
and  five,  may  exert  an  influence  upon  the  term  following,  as  in 
the  cases  of  pa'i  paisa  and  pe'n  batsa,  in  which  the  change  of  the 
second  term  would  seem  to  be  related  to  the  preceding  sounds. 


THE  CAYAPA  NUMERAL  SYSTEM 


399 


RULES  OF  COMPOSITION 

The  numbers  on  which  the  Cayapa  numeral  system  is  based 
are  1,2,3,  5)  I0>  20>  and  I0°-  On  these  the  composition  proceeds 
as  follows : 

Four  is  ta- 2. 

Six  to  nine  are  $-dic  1,  2,  3,  and  4  respectively. 

Ten  alone  and  as  a  component  of  the  numbers  11  to  19  and 
other  higher  numbers  in  which  these  occur  is  pa  it  a,  a  term 
quite  different  from  tens  ( tcunga )  used  in  the  composition  of 
the  tens  from  30  up  and  in  all  higher  numbers  in  which  these 
occur. 

Beginning  with  1 1  all  units  proceed  regularly  by  the  simple 
addition  of  the  unit  terms  1  to  9  to  the  particular  ten  under  con¬ 
sideration. 

Twenty  has  a  name  which,  unlike  the  other  tens,  is  not  re¬ 
lated  in  any  way  to  the  units. 

Beginning  with  30  all  the  tens  proceed  regularly  by  the 
addition  of  tcufiga  to  the  unit  terms  3  to  9,  with  certain  changes 
in  some  of  these  terms,  as  elsewhere  noted. 

Hundred  is  the  last  grand  division,  and  all  the  higher  num¬ 
bers  are  simply  the  term  hundred  preceded  by  the  term  indi¬ 
cating  the  number  of  hundreds  in  the  particular  numeral. 

BASAL  NUMBERS 

One  occurs  as  a  basal  number  in  the  following:  In  one 
where  it  is  rendered  ma'in;  in  six,  where  it  is  rendered  ma'lyo ; 
and  in  one  hundred,  where  it  is  rendered  mam ,  and  in  all  higher 
numbers  containing  one  of  these  in  composition.  In  the  ac- 


400 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


companying  table  of  numerals  these  three  forms  occur  in  the 
following  numbers: 

ma'in  occurs  in  I,  n,  21,  60,  ioi,  6oo,  noo,  l6oo,  2100,  and  6000.1 

malyo  occurs  in  6  and  16. 

mam  occurs  in  100,  101,  no,  120,  and  10000. 

Two  occurs  as  a  basal  number  in  the  following:  in  2,  4,  7, 
and  9,  in  all  of  which  it  is  rendered  palyd.  It  is  also  rendered 
palyd,  if  in  the  units  place,  in  all  higher  numbers  in  which 
any  of  these  four  occur.  If,  however,  they  appear  in  the  tens 
or  a  higher  column,  two  becomes  pai,  as  is  the  case  in  ordinary 
sentence  structure;  for  instance,  pai  ku'tca,  two  dogs.  An  ex¬ 
ception  appears  in  20  and  2000,  since  20  is  rendered  by  a  term, 
ma  ntcalora,  entirely  unrelated  to  any  of  the  other  numbers  and 
also  since  the  system  proceeds  strictly  on  a  centenary  basis  from 
100  up. 

In  the  accompanying  table  these  two  forms  occur  as  follows: 

palyo  occurs  in  2,  4,  7,  9,  I2t  14,  17,  and  19. 

pai  occurs  in  40,  70,  90,  200,  400,  700,  900,  1200,  1400,  1700,  1900, 
2200,  4000,  7000,  and  9000. 

Three  occurs  as  a  basal  number  in  3  and  8,  in  both  of  which 
it  is  rendered  pe'ma ,  and  in  all  higher  numbers  which  contain 
either  of  these.  In  all  cases  in  which  either  occurs  in  the  units 
column  it  retains  its  original  unit  form  given  above.  Wherever 
it  occurs  in  the  tens  or  in  a  higher  column  its  form  is  changed 
to  pen ,  here  again  following  the  ordinary  phonetic  rules.  These 
two  forms  are  here  found  in  the  following  numbers: 

pe'ma  in  3,  8,  13,  and  18. 

pen  in  30,  80,  300,  800,  1300,  1800,  3000,  and  8000. 


1  While  1  in  the  composite  number  6  is  rendered  mdlyd,  this  is  true  only  where  6  is 
the  terminal  figure  in  the  higher  composite  numbers.  In  all  other  cases  it  is  rendered  mdih. 


THE  CAYAPA  NUMERAL  SYSTEM 


401 


Five  is  used  as  a  basal  number  as  follows:  in  five,  where  it 
is  rendered  ma'n-da ,  and  in  6,  7,  8,  and  9,  in  all  of  which  it  is 
rendered  ma'n-dic ,  and  in  all  higher  numbers  in  which  these 
occur.  In  the  higher  numbers  where  5  appears  in  any  of  the 
columns  from  the  tens  up,  its  form  is  man.  Though  five  appears 
in  the  units  as  ma'n-da,  it  would  seem,  when  its  other  forms  are 
considered,  that  this  is  really  a  compound  and  that  its  simplest 
form  is  man  or  man.  As  with  the  lower  numbers,  in  all  cases  in 
which  five  appears  in  the  units  column,  it  retains  its  unit  form 
but  in  all  other  cases  it  is  changed.  Since  the  system  is  in  part 
a  quinary  one,  six  begins  the  second  set  or  group,  and  6,  7,  8,  and 
9  are  composed  of  5,  with  1,  2,  3,  and  4,  respectively,  added.  In 
these  the  term  five  takes  the  form  ma'n-dic ,  probably  ma'n-da-ic 
in  full.  In  this  form  it  occurs  in  all  the  higher  numbers  in  which 
6,  7,  8,  and  9  appear.  As  above  stated,  in  any  of  the  higher  num¬ 
bers  in  which  five  itself  appears  in  any  of  the  columns  above  the 
units,  it  has  the  form  man ,  which  is  the  same  rendition  that  it  has 
in  a  sentence  when  followed  by  such  a  term  as  ya  or  ku'tca,  as 
man  ya ,  five  houses,  or  man  kutca ,  five  dogs.  In  the  list  of 
numerals  the  three  forms  occur  as  follows: 

man-da  occurs  in  5  and  15. 

man-dic  occurs  in  6,  7,  8,  9,  16,  17,  18,  19,  60,  70,  80,  90,  600,  700,  800, 
900,  1600,  1700,  1800,  1900,  6000,  7000,  8000,  and  9000. 

man  occurs  in  50,  500,  1500,  and  5000. 

Ten  occurs  as  a  basal  number  as  follows:  in  the  numbers 
ten  to  nineteen,  inclusive,  where  it  is  rendered  pa'ita ,  and  in 
the  higher  numbers  in  which  any  one  of  these  appears.  This 
term  ten  is  quite  a  different  one  from  tens,  tcunga ,  which  is  used 
in  the  numbers  from  thirty  up.  This  unusual  use  of  a  term  for 


402 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


tens  which  is  entirely  distinct  from  the  simple  ten  appears  to 
be  explainable  through  borrowing,  since  in  a  neighboring  lan¬ 
guage,  the  Quichua,  both  ten  and  tens  are  rendered  tcunga, 
though  the  cause  of  such  borrowing,  if  such  it  is,  remains  uncer¬ 
tain.  These  two  terms  appear  in  the  accompanying  list  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 

pa'it'a  appears  in  io  to  19  inclusive,  and  in  1000  to  1900  inclusive. 
tcu'nga  appears  in  30  to  90  inclusive,  and  in  3000  to  9000  inclusive. 
Twenty,  ma'ntcaldra,  one  of  the  two  exceptions  to  the  regu¬ 
larity  of  this  numeral  system,  appears  as  a  basal  number  in  20 
and  in  all  higher  numbers  in  which  it,  as  such,  occurs.  In  the 
accompanying  list  it  appears  as  follows: 

ma'ntcaldra  appears  in  20,  21,  120,  2000,  2100,  and  2200. 

Hundred,  patsa  or  ba'tsa,  depending  upon  its  phonetic  sur¬ 
roundings,  forms  the  base  of  all  numbers  from  100  up.  This 
includes  the  thousands  also,  since  the  system  is  centenary  above 
100.  Thus,  8000  is  not  eight  thousands  but  eighty  hundreds. 

pa'tsa  or  ba'tsa  appears  here  in  100,  101,  no,  120,  200  to  2200  inclusive 
and  3000  to  1 0000  inclusive. 

CAYAPA  NUMERALS  ANALYSIS 


I 

mam 

I  1 

2 

pa'lyo 

2 

3 

pe'ma 

3 

4 

ta'l-palyo 

tal-  2 

5 

ma'n-da 

5  -da 

6 

man-dic  ma'lyo 

5-dic 

7 

man-dic  pa'lyo 

5-dic 

8 

man-dic  pe'ma 

5-dic 

1  So  far  all  efforts  to  reduce  these  terms  to  tangible  objects  such  as  are  often  used  by 
primitive  peoples  in  counting  have  not  met  with  success. 


THE  CAYAPA  NUMERAL  SYSTEM 


403 


9 

man-dic  ta'l-palyo 

5  -die  tal- 2 

10 

pa'it'a 

IO 

11 

pa'it'a  ma'ih 

10 

1 

12 

pa' it" a  pa'lyo 

10 

2 

13 

pa'it'a  pe'ma 

IO 

3 

14 

pa'it'a  ta'l-palyo 

IO 

tal-  2 

15 

pa'it'a  ma'n-da 

IO 

5  -da 

16 

pa'it’a  ma'n-dic  malyo 

IO 

5-  die  1 

17 

Pa'it'a  ma'n-dic  palyo 

IO 

5  -die  2 

18 

pa'it'a  ma'n-dic  pema 

IO 

5  -die  3 

19 

pa'it'a  man-dic  ta'l-palyo 

IO 

5  -die  tal- 2 

20 

ma'  ntcalora 

20 

21 

ma'  ntcalora  ma'ih 

20 

1 

(etc.) 

30 

pe'h  tcu'nga 

3 

tens  1 

40 

ta'l-pai  tcuhga 

tal- 

2  tens 

50 

ma'h  tcuhga 

5 

tens 

60 

man-dic  ma'ih  tcuhga 

5 -die  1  ten 

70 

man-dic  pa'i  tcuhga 

5 -die  2  tens 

80 

man-dic  pe'h  tcuhga 

5 -die  3  tens 

90 

man-dic  ta'l-pai  tcuhga 

5  -die  tal-  2  tens 

100 

mam  ba'tsa 

1 

hundred 

IOI 

mam  batsa  ma'ih 

1 

hundred  1 

(etc.) 

no 

mam  batsa  pa'it'a 

1 

hundred  10 

120 

mam  batsa  ma' ntcalora 

1 

hundred  20 

(etc.) 

1  There  is  in  Cayapa  no  nominal  plural,  hence  tcu'nga  and  bdtsa  are  both  singular 
and  plural  so  far  as  form  is  concerned.  The  former,  not  being  the  term  used  for  10,  is 
really  used  only  in  a  plural  sense,  but  the  latter  is  used  as  both  singular  and  plural. 
Further,  the  term  tcu'nga  is,  according  to  a  short  Quichua  vocabulary  obtained  from  a  couple 
of  informants  here,  the  regular  term  ten  in  that  language  and  is  used  throughout  their  en¬ 
tire  system.  The  term  hundred  has  also  a  close  parallel,  patsak,  in  Quichua ,  but,  while 
Cayapa  has  a  strict  centenary  system  above  100,  Quichua  carries  the  hundreds  only  as  far 
as  1,000,  which  is  ‘waraiiga,  a  term  entirely  unrelated  to  hundred. 


404 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


200 

pai  pa'tsa 

2  hundreds 

300 

pen  ba'tsa 

3  hundreds 

400 

tal-pai  pa'tsa 

tal- 2  hundreds 

500 

man  ba'tsa 

5  hundreds 

600 

man-dic  ma'ih  batsa 

5  -die  1  hundreds 

700 

man-dic  pa'i  patsa 

5  -die  2  hundreds 

800 

man-dic  pe'h  batsa 

5  -die  3  hundreds 

900 

man-dic  ta'l-pai  patsa 

5  -die  tal-2  hundreds 

1000 

pa'it'a  patsa 

10  hundreds 

1 100 

pa' it" a  ma'ih  batsa 

10  1  hundreds 

1200 

pa'ita  pa'i  patsa 

10  2  hundreds 

1300 

pa'it'a  pe'h  batsa 

10  3  hundreds 

I4OO 

pa'it'a  ta'l-pai  patsa 

10  tal-2  hundreds 

1500 

pa'it'a  ma'h  batsa 

10  5  hundreds 

1600 

pa'it'a  man-dic  ma'ih  batsa 

10  5  -die  1  hundreds 

1700 

pa'ita  man-dic  pa'i  patsa 

10  5  -die  2  hundreds 

l800 

pa'ita  man-dic  pe'h  batsa 

10  5  -die  3  hundreds 

1900 

pa'it'a  man-dic  ta'l-pai  patsa 

10  5  -die  tal-2  hundreds 

2000 

ma' ntcalora  patsa 

20  hundreds 

2100 

mantcalora  ma'ih  batsa 

20  l  hundreds 

2200 

mantcalora  pa'i  patsa 
(etc.) 

20  2  hundreds 

3000 

pe'h  tcuhga  patsa 

3  tens  hundreds 

4000 

ta'l-pai  tcuhga  patsa 

tal-2  tens  hundreds 

5000 

ma'h  tcuhga  patsa 

5  tens  hundreds 

6000 

man-dic  ma'ih  tcuhga  patsa 

5  -die  1  tens  hundreds 

7000 

man-dic  pa'i  tcuhga  patsa 

5 -die  2  tens  hundreds 

8000 

man-dic  pe'h  tcuhga  patsa 

S-dic  3  tens  hundreds 

9000 

man-dic  ta'l-pai  tcuhga  patsa 

5 -die  tal-2  tens  hundreds 

I OOOO 

jna'm  batsa  patsa 

1  hundred  hundreds 

Esmeraldas,  Ecuador 
December  2,  1908 


ON  THE  STATURE  OF  THE  INDIANS  OF  THE 
SOUTHWEST  AND  OF  NORTHERN  MEXICO 


BY 


Ales  Hrdlicka 


HE  Hyde  Expedition  for  the  American  Museum  of 


Natural  History  —  a  result  of  the  efforts  of  Professor 


F.  W.  Putnam  and  of  the  generosity  of  the  Messrs 


Hyde  of  New  York  City  —  included,  from  1898  to  1903,  a 
research  by  the  writer  in  physical  anthropology.  These  investi¬ 
gations,  which  are  gradually  being  prepared  for  detailed  publi¬ 
cation,  extended  to  practically  all  the  tribes  of  the  Southwest 
and  of  northern  Mexico,  and  comprised  measurements  of  stature, 
preliminary  data  concerning  which  are  herein  presented. 

The  region  covered  by  the  study  embraces  the  territory 
from  southeastern  Utah  in  the  north  to  the  state  of  Morelos, 
Mexico,  in  the  south;  from  east  to  west  it  stretches  in  the  north 
from  the  Rio  Grande  to  the  Colorado  river,  and  in  Mexico  from 
approximately  the  line  of  the  Mexican  Central  Railroad  to  the 
Pacific  ocean. 

The  individual  tribes  studied  are  the  following:  A  band 
of  Paiute  in  southeastern  Utah;  and  Southern  Ute  in  Colorado; 
The  Jicarilla  Apache,  the  Navaho  (also  in  Arizona  and  south¬ 
ern  Utah),  the  Rio  Grande  Pueblos  of  Taos,  San  Juan,  Jemez, 
Santo  Domingo,  Sia,  and  Isleta,  and  the  western  Pueblos  (of 


4o6  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Laguna,  Acoma,  Acomita,  and  Zuni),  in  New  Mexico;  the 
Mescalero  Apache  in  the  same  territory;  the  Hopi,  the  White 
Mountain  and  San  Carlos  Apache,  the  Mohave  (Eastern  or 
Yavapai,  and  Western),  Havasupai,  Walapai,  Papago,  Pima, 
Maricopa,  and  Yuma  (mostly  in  California)  in  Arizona;  the 
Opata,  Yaqui,  and  Mayo  in  Sonora;  the  Tarahumare  in  Chi¬ 
huahua;  the  Tepehuane  in  Durango;  the  Cora  in  Tepic;  the 
Pluichol,  Tepecano,  remnants  of  the  Teul  “  Mekkos,”  and  the 
Nahua  (Tuxpan)  in  Jalisco;  the  Otomi  in  Hidalgo;  the 
Mazahua  and  Otomi  in  the  state  of  Mexico;  the  Tarasco  in 
Michoacan;  and  the  Tlahuiltec  (a  branch  of  the  Aztec)  in 
Morelos. 

It  was  the  intention  of  the  writer  to  measure  in  each  tribe 
at  least  fifty  males  and  twenty-five  females,  —  adult,  normal, 
full-blood  individuals.  In  a  majority  of  the  tribes  these  numbers 
were  actually  reached,  or  even  exceeded;  but  in  a  few  others, 
owing  to  various  adverse  circumstances,  the  number  of  measured 
individuals  fell  short  of  the  above  figures.  In  all,  measurements 
of  stature,  head,  etc.,  were  obtained  on  2078  full-grown  Indians, 
of  whom  1516  were  males  and  562  were  females.  There  were 
also  numerous  measurements  on  children,  which  are  reported 
elsewhere.1  The  data,  while  not  in  all  cases  as  ample  as  might 
be  desired,  can  nevertheless  be  regarded  as  sufficient  for  the 
most  necessary  information. 

The  extensive  region  covered  includes  large  bodies  of  his¬ 
torically  and  ethnically  related  ancient  peoples,  as  well  as  cer- 

1  Physiological  and  Medical  Observations,  etc.  ( Bulletin  34,  Bureau  of  American 
Ethnology,  Washington,  1908). 


THE  STATURE  OF  THE  INDIANS 


407 


tain  highly  interesting  newer  elements  superseding,  in  the  areas 
they  occupy,  older  populations.  The  physical  characteristics  of 
these  many  tribes  have  hitherto,  with  few  exceptions,  been  un¬ 
known.  Before  the  researches  of  the  Hyde  Expedition,  the  only 
publications  of  consequence  in  this  line  relating  to  the  living  were 
ten  Kate’s  “Somatological  Observations  on  Indians  of  the  South¬ 
west,”  1  giving  measurements  of  the  Zuni,  Pima,  Papago,  and 
Maricopa,  and  the  report  by  Boas, 2  giving  chiefly  the  height  of 
the  Ute,  Paiute,  and  some  of  the  Pueblos. 

The  data  on  stature  here  reported  show  great  differences 
according  to  the  tribes  and  regions,  but  afford  no  definite  con¬ 
clusions  as  to  the  effect  of  environment,  and  particularly  of 
climate,  on  this  important  feature  of  the  human  body.  High 
and  again  low  statures  were  found  in  the  mountains  as  well  as 
in  the  valleys  and  low  flats,  in  relatively  cold  regions,  and  in 
those  that  range  among  the  hottest  on  this  continent.  Several 
large  areas  show  a  striking  similarity;  but  on  close  study  we 
find  that  this  is  due  more  to  the  fact  of  blood  relation  of  the 
tribes  in  that  region  than  to  other  influences,  and  in  general  the 
element  of  heredity  must  be  accorded  a  greater  weight  than  that 
of  present  locality  and  environment.  The  most  potent  factor 
affecting  the  stature,  next  to  heredity,  appears  to  be  the  nature 
and  abundance  of  the  food  of  the  people. 

The  tallest  statures  are  found  in  Arizona,  among  the  Na- 
vaho,  Apache,  Pima,  Yuma,  Maricopa,  and  Mohave;  and  in 
Sonora,  among  the  Yaqui;  while  relatively  low  statures  prevail 

1  Journal  of  American  Ethnology  and  Archaeology ,  pp.  119-144,  Boston,  1892. 

2  Zur  Anthropologie  der  nordamerikanischen  Indianer,  V erhandlungen  der  Berliner 
Gesellschaft  fur  Anthropologie,  Ethnologie  und  Urgeschichte,  Berlin,  1895,  p.  370. 


4o8  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


among  the  Ute  and  some  Paiute  in  the  north,  among  all  the  Pue¬ 
blos,  and  with  most  of  the  Mexican  Indians. 

TRIBAL  DATA  1 

The  Paiute.  —  The  branch  of  Paiute  studied  was  that 
roaming  free  in  southeastern  Utah,  northwest  of  Bluff  City. 
The  band  was  estimated  in  1900  to  number  fewer  than  one  hun¬ 
dred.  They  regard  Allen  canyon  and  the  neighboring  parts  of 
the  Blue  mountains  as  their  original  home.  They  are  partly 
agricultural,  raising  some  corn  and  melons,  but  they  depend 
chiefly  on  hunting. 

On  account  of  the  dispersion  of  the  band  at  the  time  of  the 
writer’s  visit,  it  was  possible  to  measure  only  thirteen  individuals. 
—  six  adult  men,  six  adult  women,  and  a  girl.  Ten  others  were 
seen  at  different  times,  but  showed  nothing  radically  different 
in  their  physical  characteristics  from  those  who  were  measured. 
The  people  bear,  in  general,  a  strong  similarity  to  the  Southern 
Utes.  The  head-measurements  indicate  a  prevalence  of  meso- 
cephaly.  The  measurements  of  stature  were  as  follows:  — 


MEN 

WOMEN 

SUBJECT 

AGE 

HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

SUBJECT 

AGE 

HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

I 

23 

164.6 

I 

21 

155-7 

2 

24 

166.5 

2 

22 

154.2 

3 

25 

165.7 

3 

25 

i57-o 

4 

25 

170.8 

4 

30 

148.7 

5 

26 

172.6 

5 

40 

149.9 

6 

35 

160.4 

6 

55 

147-3 

The  Paiute  of  Nevada  and  adjoining  territory,  give,  accord¬ 
ing  to  Boas,  for  68  men,  the  average  of  168.3  cm.,  minimum  15 1 
cm.,  maximum  186  cm. 


1  For  additional  notes,  see  Bulletin  34,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  pp.  132  et  seq. 


THE  STATURE  OF  THE  INDIANS 


409 


The  Southern  Ute,  —  The  Southern  Ute  consist  of  three 
branches;  namely,  the  Wiminuche,  who  at  the  time  of  the 
writer’s  visit  were  settled  about  Navaho  Springs  near  Mesa 
Verde,  southern  Colorado,  and  the  Capote  and  Moache,  dwelling 
on  the  reservation  at  Ignatio.  The  number  of  individuals  in 
the  tribe  in  June,  1907,  was  807.  Physically  the  three  divisions 
of  the  tribe  are  homogeneous.  Almost  all  the  people  are  full- 
bloods. 

Up  to  recent  times  the  Southern  Ute  lived  unrestrained. 
Their  principal  means  of  sustenance  was  hunting  at  certain 
periods  of  the  year,  while  in  winter  and  in  times  of  necessity 
they  eked  out  their  living  by  the  use  of  native  fruits,  seeds,  and 
especially  roots. 

The  head-measurements  of  these  people  show  a  prevalence 
of  mesocephaly  with  a  tendency  toward  dolichocephaly.  In 
stature  they  are  seldom  tall,  as  will  be  here  seen. 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

MEN  (50) 

PER  CENT 

WOMEN  (20) 

PER  CENT 

140. 1  to  145 . 

4.0 

145. i  to  150 . 

24.0 

150. 1  to  155 . 

4.0 

20.0 

155. i  to  160 . 

6.0 

28.0 

160. 1  to  165 . 

165.1  to  170 . 

28.0 

38.0 

4.0 

170. 1  to  175 . 

175.  i  to  180 . 

16.0 

8.0 

— 

Average . 

166.8  cm. 

153.7  cm. 

Minimum . 

153.3  cm. 

142.8  cm. 

Maximum . 

178.8  cm. 

164.5  cm. 

Boas1  gives  for  121  Ute,  mostly  of  northern  provenience, 
the  average  of  166.1  cm.,  minimum  153  cm.,  maximum  188  cm. 


1  Loc.  cit.,  p.  370. 


410 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  NAVAHO.  —  The  Navaho  —  who,  with  the  exception 
of  the  much  mixed  Cherokee,  are  the  largest  tribe  in  the  United 
States  —  are  an  independent,  self-supporting  people  occupying 
a  great  semi-arid  reservation  extending  over  parts  of  Colorado, 
Utah,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona.  The  Navaho  are  more  or  less 
nomadic;  they  farm  to  some  extent,  and  raise  sheep  and  horses, 
while  the  women  manufacture  great  numbers  of  excellent  blan¬ 
kets,  which  form  an  important  source  of  income. 

The  Navaho  are  of  mixed  Indian  (mainly  Pueblo)  origin; 
nevertheless,  considerable  uniformity  in  physical  features  is  ex¬ 
hibited  throughout  the  Navaho  territory.  Mixed-bloods  are 
rare. 

The  predominant  type  of  head  among  them  is  moderately 
brachycephalic.  Their  statures  range  as  follows:  — 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

men  (50) 

PER  CENT 

WOMEN  (30) 

PER  CENT 

145.1  to  150 . 

6-7 

150. 1  to  155 . 

16.7 

155.  i  to  160 . 

50.0 

160. 1  to  165 . 

IO. O 

23-4 

165.1  to  170 . 

26.0 

3-3 

170. i  to  175 . 

175.  i  to  180 . 

42.0 

22.0 

Average . 

171 .3  cm. 

157.3  cm. 

Minimum . 

162.4  Cm. 

E 

u 

*'-p 

00 

Td- 

h-t 

Maximum . 

180.0  cm 

166.3  cm. 

The  Pueblos.  —  The  large  Pueblo  population,  including 
the  Zuni  and  the  Hopi,  is  divisible,  both  by  language  and  on 
the  basis  of  physical  characteristics,  into  more  than  one  group; 
but  their  habits  and  environment  are  much  alike,  as  is  their 
stature.  They  are  almost  exclusively  an  agricultural  people  and 
of  domestic  habits. 


THE  STATURE  OF  THE  INDIANS  41 1 

As  to  head-form,  most  of  the  Pueblo  groups  are  predomi¬ 
nantly  brachycephalic.  There  is  also,  however,  in  all  the  vil¬ 
lages  an  admixture  of  a  long-headed  element,  the  main  seat  of 
which  seems  to  have  been,  in  olden  times,  the  northeastern  region 
of  the  Pueblo  area;  and  in  a  few  of  the  present  villages,  such  as 
Taos  and  Isleta,  the  dolichocephalic  type  is  still  in  the  majority. 

The  measurements  of  stature  among  the  Pueblos  taken  as  a 
whole  are  shown  below.  Individually  the  Isleta  are  the  tallest; 
the  Jemez  and  Sia  people,  the  shortest. 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

men  (383) 

PER  CENT 

women  (59) 

PER  CENT 

140. 1  to  145 . 

6.8 

145. 1  to  150 . 

0.5 

30.4 

150. 1  to  155 . 

3-4 

35-6 

1 5  5 .  i  to  160 . 

20.1 

15-3 

160. 1  to  165 . 

29.8 

10.2 

165.1  to  170 . 

32.4 

i-7 

170. 1  to  175 . 

12.5 

175. 1  to  180 . 

1-3 

Above  1 80 . 1 . 

0.2 

Average . . 

164.5  cm. 

152.3  cm. 

Minimum . 

148.2  cm. 

143.5  cm. 

Maximum . 

182.3  cm. 

168.4  cm. 

Ten  Kate1  gives,  as  the  average  of  25  Zuni  men,  162.4  cm*> 
minimum  148  cm.,  maximum  173.4  cm-5  while  Boas2  reports 
for  Zuni  and  Moqui  (Hopi),  as  the  average  of  104  men,  162.9 
cm.,  minimum  153  cm.,  maximum  176  cm.;  and  for  27  men  of 
Taos,  average  167.6,  minimum  157  cm.,  maximum  182  cm. 

The  Apache.  — The  Apache,  the  most  recent  ethnic  group 
in  our  Southwest,  are  divided  into  several  large  bodies  living 


1  Loc.  cit.,  p.  135. 

2  Loc.  cit.,  pp.  369,  370. 


412 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


on  separate  reservations.  They  subsist  by  farming,  hunting, 
and  in  late  years  also  by  working  for  the  whites;  formerly  they 
lived  largely  by  hunting.  They  have  been  settled,  since  known, 
mainly  in  the  elevated  narrow  valley  of  the  mountainous  region 
in  New  Mexico  and  Arizona.  Originally,  they  doubtless  came 
from  the  Northwest.  The  Apache  present  throughout  a  clear 
physical  type,  characterized  by  decided  brachycephaly.  Ad¬ 
mixture  with  whites  is  infrequent. 

The  Lipan,  a  remnant  of  whom  live  now  with  the  Mesca- 
leros,  are  Apache  in  language  as  well  as  in  features,  and  are 
included  with  that  tribe. 

In  stature  the  people  are  quite  tall. 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

MEN  (212) 

PER  CENT 

women  (70) 

PER  CENT 

145. 1  to  150 . 

8-5 

150. 1  to  155 . 

0.5 

21.4 

155. 1  to  160 . 

I.4 

37-2 

160.  i  to  165 . 

A  0 

28.5 

0 . 2 

165.1  to  170 . 

25 .0 

4.2 

170. 1  to  175 . 

35.8 

175.  i  to  180 . 

21.7 

180. 1  to  185 . 

9.4 

Average . 

169.1  cm. 

156.8  cm. 

Minimum . 

1 5 1 . 0  cm. 

147.2  cm. 

Maximum . 

182.5  cm. 

169.3  cm. 

The  Walapai  and  the  Havasupai.  —  The  Walapai  num¬ 
ber  525,  and  the  Havasupai  172  individuals.  Both  tribes  live 
in  northern  Arizona.  They  farm,  hunt,  and  gather  native  fruits 
and  seeds;  some  of  them,  especially  the  Walapai,  work  also  for 
the  white  people.  The  Walapai  in  particular  are  principally 
hunters. 


THE  STATURE  OF  THE  INDIANS 


4*3 


These  two  groups  are  doubtless  a  part  of  what  formerly 
was  one  body,  and,  while  speaking  a  Yuman  language,  they  are 
physically  identical  with  the  Apache.  Mixed-bloods  among 
them  are  rare.  Their  stature  ranges  as  follows: 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

men  (47) 

PER  CENT 

WOMEN  (23) 

PER  CENT 

Below  140 . 

140. 1  to  145 . 

145. 1  to  150 . 

150. 1  to  155 . 

8-7 

8-7 

8.7 

155. i  to  160 . 

6-4 

26.2 

160.  i  to  165 . 

12.9 

26.0 

165.1  to  170 . 

25.4 

13.0 

170.  I  to  175 . 

175. 1  to  180 . 

180. 1  to  185 . 

23.4 

25.6 

6.4 

8.7 

Average . 

168.4  cm- 

157.7  cm. 

Minimum . 

155. 1  cm. 

134.7  cm. 

Maximum . 

180.2  cm. 

172.2  cm. 

The  MOHAVE.  —  The  Mohave  are  separated  into  two 
bodies,  living  about  seventy  miles  apart  on  the  Colorado.  They 
number  in  all  a  little  more  than  thirteen  hundred.  Until  recent 
years  they  lived  partly  by  farming  and  especially  on  native  fruits 
and  seeds,  to  a  less  extent  by  hunting  and  fishing.  Now  many 
of  the  men  earn  their  livelihood  by  working  for  the  whites. 
They  are  as  yet  almost  all  full-bloods,  and  live,  particularly 
those  of  the  more  southerly  division,  quite  primitively. 

The  prevailing  head-type  is  moderately  brachycephalic, 
with  some  admixture  of  long-headed  elements.  In  this  respect 
they  are  related  to  the  Pueblos.  Their  stature  is  above  medium, 
as  may  be  seen  from  the  following  table : 


4H 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

men  (45) 

PER  CENT 

WOMEN  (25) 

PER  CENT 

145. 1  to  150 . 

8.0 

150. 1  to  155 . 

24.O 

155. i  to  160 . 

28.0 

160. i  to  165 . 

8.8 

20.0 

165.1  to  170. . . 

28.9 

20.0 

170. 1  to  175 . 

40.0 

175. 1  to  180. ........  . 

17.8 

180. i  to  185 . 

2.2 

185. i  to  190 . 

2.2 

Average . 

171.6  cm. 

158.5  cm. 

Minimum . 

161 .8  cm. 

I47.4  cm. 

Maximum,.  ......... 

186.2  cm. 

169.3  Cm. 

The  Yuma.  —  This  tribe,  composed  almost  wholly  of  full- 
bloods,  numbers  645  individuals.  They  live  on  the  flats  along 
the  Colorado  river,  in  a  very  hot  region.  They  farm  a  little, 
gather  native  fruits  and  greens,  fish  in  the  Colorado,  hunt  to 
some  extent,  and  find  employment  among  the  whites.  Former¬ 
ly  they  were  dependent  mainly  on  fish  and  mollusks  from  the 
river,  small  game  of  the  lowlands,  and  native  fruits  and  seeds. 
They  are  among  the  tallest  Indians  in  North  America.  On 
account  of  dissatisfaction  in  the  tribe  during  the  writer’s  visit, 
it  was  impracticable  to  measure  a  large  number  of  individuals; 
but  those  examined  represent  fairly  well  the  features  of  the  tribe. 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

MEN  (37) 

PER  CENT 

WOMEN  (5) 

PER  CENT 

155.  i  to  160 . 

2.7 

20.0 

160. 1  to  165 . 

5-4 

60.0 

165.1  to  170 . 

24-3 

20.0 

170. 1  to  175 . 

35  • 1 

175 . 1  to  180 . 

27.0 

- - 

00 

0 

4-* 

d 

00 

5-4 

— 

Average . 

172.2  cm. 

161.7  cm. 

Minimum . 

159.9  cm- 

157.5  cm. 

Maximum . 

184.8  cm. 

166.8  cm. 

THE  STATURE  OF  THE  INDIANS  415 

The  Maricopa.  —  The  Maricopa  are  to-day  a  small  tribe, 
numbering  only  383  individuals.  They  are  an  agricultural 
people.  Formerly  they  fished  in  the  Colorado  and  Gila  rivers, 
and  gathered  native  fruits,  particularly  mesquite  and  mescrew 
beans,  as  well  as  mescal  and  greens.  Physically  they  are  related 
to  the  Yuma.  They  are  brachycephalic  and  very  tall.  They 
have  mixed  a  little  with  the  Pima,  but  the  results  of  such 
mixture  can  be  easily  eliminated.  There  is  but  very  little  white 
blood  in  the  tribe.  Measurements  of  stature:  — 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

men  (40) 

PER  CENT 

women  (30) 

PER  CENT 

145. i  to  150 . 

3-3 

150. 1  to  155 . 

155 . 1  to  160 . 

6.7 

33-3 

160. i  to  165 . 

10. 0 

43.4 

165.1  to  170 . 

10. 0 

10. 0 

170. 1  to  175 . 

175.  I  to  180 . 

180.  I  to  185 . 

185.1  to  190 . 

27.5 

30.0 

20.0 

2.5 

3.3 

Average . 

174.9  cm. 

160.4  cm. 

Minimum . 

162.5  cm. 

150.0  cm. 

Maximum . 

185.1  cm. 

170.8  cm. 

Ten  Kate  1  gives,  for  29  Maricopa  men,  the  average  of  172.2 
cm.,  minimum  152.2,  maximum  182  cm.;  for  women,  the  aver¬ 
age  of  160.1  cm.,  minimum  148  cm.,  maximum  168.9  cm- 

The  Pima. — The  Pima,  numbering  4037,  are  an  agri¬ 
cultural  sedentary  people,  living  since  prehistoric  times  in  the 
Gila  valley,  in  the  territory  of  an  older  population  allied  to  the 
southern  Pueblos.  A  part  of  the  tribe,  the  “Pimas  Bajos,”  live 
in  northern  Sonora,  principally  in  the  district  of  Ures.  In 


1  Loc.  cit.,  pp.  132,  133. 


416  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

former  days  the  Northern  Pima  derived  an  important  part  of 
their  sustenance  from  the  then  abundant  fish  and  mollusks  of  the 
Gila,  and  to  some  extent  also  from  hunting. 

The  Pima  are  slightly  mixed  with  the  Papago,  but  mixture 
with  whites  is  scant.  They  are  a  tall  people  and  dolichocephalic. 
They  represent  one  of  the  fundamental  physical  types  of  the 
Southwest. 

The  height  of  those  examined  was  as  follows:  — 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

MEN  (53) 

PER  CENT 

WOMEN  (30) 

PER  CENT 

145. 1  to  150 . 

6.7 

m 

m 

0 

►H 

c 

m 

30.0 

155. 1  to  160 . 

26.7 

160. 1  to  165 . 

II. 3 

33-3 

165.1  to  170 . 

22.6 

3-3 

170. 1  to  175 . 

32.1 

175 . 1  to  180 . 

26.4 

180. 1  to  185 . 

7.5 

Average . 

171.8  cm. 

157.4  cm- 

Minimum . 

161.7  cm. 

146.9  cm. 

Maximum . 

181.4  cm. 

164.8  cm. 

Ten  Kate  1  gives,  for  77  Pima  men,  the  average  of  169.6  cm., 
minimum  155.9  cm.,  maximum  184.8  cm.;  for  51  Pima  women, 
the  average  of  156.3  cm.,  minimum  145.8  cm.,  maximum 
167.2  cm. 

The  Papago.  —  The  Papago  are  a  tribe  of  over  six 
thousand  individuals,  the  bulk  of  whom  live  in  the  United 
States,  the  remainder  being  found  in  northern  Sonora.  They  are 
to  some  degree  an  agricultural  people,  but  depend  also,  to  a 
large  extent,  on  the  natural  products  of  their  country  and  on 
hunting. 


1  Loc.  cit.,  pp.  126,  127. 


THE  STATURE  OF  THE  INDIANS 


4 17 


Physically  the  people  show  relation  with  the  Pima,  and 
also  with  the  Pueblos.  In  all  probability  they  contain  a  large 
element  of  the  Pueblo  people  which  in  ancient  times  occupied 
the  valleys  of  the  Gila  and  its  affluents.  The  head-form  is  pre¬ 
valently  dolichocephalic. 

The  tribe  shows  a  perceptible  intermixture  with  the  Mexi-. 
cans;  these  mixed-blood  individuals,  however,  in  most  instances 
can  be  easily  separated.  The  full-bloods  measured,  principally 
at  San  Xavier,  gave  statures  detailed  in  the  table  below.  Papago 
from  other  localities,  seen  on  different  occasions,  showed  no 
marked  differences  in  this  particular. 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

MEN  (50) 

PER  CENT 

WOMEN  (30) 

PER  CENT 

145. 1  to  150 . 

13.3 

150. 1  to  155 . 

26.7 

155. 1  to  160 . 

6.0 

40.0 

160.  i  to  165 . 

I4.O 

20.0 

165.1  to  170 . 

16.0 

170. 1  to  175 . 

32.0 

175.  i  to  180 . 

30.0 

180. 1  to  185 . 

2.0 

Average . 

170.9  cm. 

155.9  cm. 

Minimum . 

155.7  cm. 

148.8  cm. 

Maximum . 

180.8  cm. 

163.3  cm. 

Ten  Kate  1  gives,  for  17  Papago  men,  the  average  of  169.5 
cm.,  minimum  163.7  cm.,  maximum  179.4  cm. 

The  Opata.  — -  The  Opata  are  a  remnant  of  what  was 
formerly  a  large  tribe  in  northern  Sonora.  They  were  doubtless 
an  amalgamation  of  at  least  two,  if  not  more,  distinct  bodies  of 
people.  Much  of  the  tribe  has  disappeared  by  voluntary  mix¬ 
ture  with  the  Mexicans.  In  their  mode  of  life  these  people  re¬ 
semble  the  Papago. 


1  Loc.  cit.,  p.  128. 


4i 8  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  pure-blood  remainder  shows  a  prevalence  of  brachy- 
cephaly  and  a  moderate  body  height;  they  cannot  be  classed 
with  the  tall  statures  of  the  Gila  valley  tribes. 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

MEN  (30) 

PER  CENT 

women  (20) 

PER  CENT 

I4O .  I 

to 

145 . 

5-0 

J45  •  1 

to 

150 . 

15.0 

150.  I 

to 

155 . 

20.0 

155  -  I 

to 

160. ......... 

IO. O 

55-0 

l6o.  I 

to 

165.  . . . 

33-3 

5.0 

165.I 

to 

170 . 

30.0 

170.  1 

to 

175 . 

l6.6 

175  •  I 

to 

180 . 

6-7 

l8o.  I 

to 

185... . 

3-3 

Average . 

167.0  cm. 

155.O  cm. 

Minimum . 

158.8  cm. 

144.6  cm. 

Maximum . . . 

180.5  cm. 

163.2  cm. 

The  Yaqui.  —  These  were,  up  to  within  recent  years,  a 
very  strong  tribe,  occupying  a  large  region  in  southern  Sonora, 
particularly  along  the  Yaqui  river.  They  are  in  part  an  agri¬ 
cultural  people,  but  live  also  by  hunting  and  fishing  and  on  the 
native  products  of  the  country.  They  are  mixed  somewhat 
with  the  more  southerly  Mayo,  and  slightly  also  with  the  Mexi¬ 
cans. 

The  Yaqui  are,  on  the  whole,  a  people  of  strong  physical 
development.  The  head-form  is  predominantly  dolichocephalic 
to  mesocephalic.  In  olden  times  the  tribe  was  doubtless  close¬ 
ly  related  to  the  Pima.  Tall  statures  are  frequent. 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

MEN  (50) 

PER  CENT 

WOMEN  (33) 

PER  CENT 

145. 1  to  150 . 

12.  I 

150. 1  to  155 . 

45-5 

155. 1  to  160 . 

IO. O 

33-4 

160. 1  to  165 . 

18.0 

9-1 

THE  STATURE  OF  THE  INDIANS 


419 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

men  (50) 

PER  CENT 

WOMEN  (33) 

PER  CENT 

165.1  to  170 . 

18.0 

170. 1  to  175 . 

32.0 

— - - 

175. 1  to  180. .  . . .  . 

20.0 

180. 1  to  185 . . 

2.0 

Average  ............ 

169.6  cm. 

154.2  cm. 

Minimum . . 

157.0  cm. 

146.5  cm. 

Maximum . . 

180.4  cm. 

161 .0  cm. 

The  Mayo. — The  Mayo,  numbering  more  than  twenty 
thousand,  occupy  an  extensive  region  south  of  the  Yaqui  and 
along  the  Rio  Mayo,  extending  into  Sinaloa.  They  are  in  the 
main  an  agricultural  people,  and,  while  not  of  as  strong  physique 
as  the  Yaqui,  show  good  body-development.  The  general  head- 
type  is  brachycephalic.  There  is  some  mixture  with  the  Yaqui 
and  with  Mexicans. 

In  stature  the  Mayo  show  as  follows: 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

men  (53) 

PER  CENT 

WOMEN  (30) 

PER  CENT 

145. 1  to  150 . . 

3.8 

13.3 

150. 1  to  155. . 

33-3 

155.  I  to  160 . .  . 

9.4 

40.0 

160. 1  to  165, .... - - 

15. 1 

6.7 

165.1  to  170 _ ...... 

33.9 

6.7 

170. 1  to  175 . 

28.3 

175. 1  to  180. . .  . 

tSo  t  tn  r8<  ... 

7.5 

— 

185.1  to  190. . . 

1.9 

Average . . 

167.3  cm. 

155.2  cm. 

Minimum . . 

154.7  cm. 

147.0  cm. 

Maximum . . 

185.1  cm. 

166.5  cm. 

The  TARAHUMARE.  —  This  is  a  very  large  tribe,  occupying 
an  extensive  region  in  Chihuahua  and  about  the  northern  limits 
of  Durango:  their  country,  a  part  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  is  ex¬ 
tremely  rugged.  The  people  live  in  deep,  narrow  valleys  or 


420 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


barrancas,  and  over  small  flats  on  the  elevations.  They  are  in 
the  main  agricultural,  but  carry  on,  also,  considerable  hunting 
and  fishing,  and  utilize  for  food  many  of  the  natural  products 
of  the  country.  They  are  famous  runners.  Mixture  with  other 
Indian  tribes  and  with  whites  is  limited  to  those  Tarahumare 
who  live  on  the  outskirts  of  their  territory.  Those  in  the  deeper 
parts  of  the  sierra  live  more  primitively  than  any  other  tribe  in 
the  Southwest  or  in  northern  Mexico. 

Unfortunately,  but  little  time  was  spent  among  these  highly 
interesting  people,  and  the  number  of  subjects  measured  was 
not  so  large  as  was  desirable;  but  those  measured  were  all  full- 
bloods  from  the  heart  of  their  territory.  Their  statures  were  as 
follows: 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

MEN  (23) 

PER  CENT 

women  (10) 

PER  CENT 

145.  i  to  150 . 

20.0 

150. i  to  155 . 

8.7 

60.0 

155 . 1  to  160. . . 

17.4 

20.0 

160. 1  to  165  ...  . . 

17.4 

— 

165.1  to  170 . 

43-4 

O 

O 

1— 1 

La 

13-0 

Average . 

164.2  cm. 

152.7  cm. 

Minimum . .  . 

153.O  cm. 

148.6  cm. 

Maximum. .  ......... 

174.5  cm. 

159.6  cm. 

The  Tepehuane.  —  This  tribe  is  separated  into  two 
groups,  —  one  in  southwestern  Chihuahua  and  northwestern 
Durango,  the  other  in  southern  Durango  and  extending  into 
Jalisco  and  Tepic.  The  people  are  in  the  main  agricultural, 
and  but  little  mixed.  The  measurements  of  stature  given  below 
apply  almost  exclusively  to  the  southern  Tepehuane. 


THE  STATURE  OF  THE  INDIANS 


42 1 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 


MEN  (40) 
PER  CENT 


WOMEN  (15) 
PER  CENT 


145. 1  to  150 

150. 1  to  155 
155.  i  to  160 
160.  i  to  165 

165.1  to  170 

170. 1  to  175 

175. 1  to  180 

180. 1  to  185 
Average  .  . 
Minimum . 
Maximum. 


33-4 

— 

53-3 

17-5 

13-3 

30.0 

42.5 

5-0 

2.5 

2.5 

165.3  cm. 

151.6  cm. 

156.6  cm. 

145.6  cm. 

180.8  cm. 

157. 1  cm. 

The  TEPECANO.  —  The  Tepecano,  in  the  main,  are  a  small 
but  interesting  tribe  of  isolated  agricultural  people,  probably  an 
ancient  branch  of  the  Tepehuane.  They  live  in  the  valley  of  the 
Rio  de  Bolanos  in  Jalisco.  The  individual  members  of  the 
tribe,  besides  cultivating  the  soil,  gather  quantities  of  cactus  and 
other  native  fruits,  and  do  some  hunting  and  fishing.  Admix¬ 
ture  with  the  whites  is  insignificant. 

These  people,  while  otherwise  well  developed,  are  among 
the  shortest  of  the  tribes  examined. 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 


MEN  (25) 


150. 1 

to 

J55 . 

155. 1 

to 

160 . 

160. 1 

to 

165 . 

165.1 

to 

170 . 

Averag 

e . 

Minimum . 

Maximum 


12.0 

36.O 

40.0 

12.0 

160.2  cm. 
153.6  cm. 
167.5  cm. 


The  Huichol.  —  The  Huichol  occupy  the  lower  eleva¬ 
tions  and  some  of  the  valleys  in  the  rugged  sierra  of  the  state  of 
Jalisco.  They  live  by  agriculture,  by  gathering  native  fruits, 


422 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


etc.,  and  by  hunting  and  fishing:  they  also  raise  some  cattle. 
Admixture  with  whites  is  almost  unknown.  Next  to  the  Tara- 
humare,  they  are  the  least  civilized  tribe  of  northern  Mexico. 
They  are  a  brachycephalic  people  of  moderate  stature. 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

MEN  (30) 

PER  CENT 

women  (19) 

PER  CENT 

145 .1  to  150 . . 

10.6 

150. 1  to  155 . 

3-3 

57-9 

155. 1  to  160 . 

16.7 

21 . 1 

160. 1  to  165 . 

40.0 

10.5 

165.1  to  170 . 

33-3 

O 

d 

6.7 

Average . . . 

163.4  cm. 

154.3  cm. 

Minimum . 

155. 1  cm. 

147. 1  cm. 

Maximum. .  . . 

1 71 . 5  cm. 

162.2  cm. 

The  CORA.  —  These  people,  numbering  about  three 
thousand,  are  scattered  over  a  large  territory  in  Tepic.  They 
are  agricultural,  though  they  supplement  the  results  of  their 
farming  by  fishing,  hunting,  and  gathering  native  fruits.  Phys-* 
ically  the  Cora  are  allied  in  head-form  with  the  Huichol;  and 
in  stature,  it  will  be  seen  below,  they  differ  but  little  from  that 
tribe.  Admixture  with  whites  is  scant. 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

men  (53) 

PER  CENT 

women  (10) 

PER  CENT 

145. 1  to  150 . 

20.0 

150. 1  to  155 . 

1.9 

70.0 

155. 1  to  160 . 

13-2 

10. 0 

160. 1  to  165 . 

35-9 

165.1  to  170 . 

35-9 

— - 

170. 1  to  175 . 

11. 4 

175 . 1  to  180 . . 

1-9 

Average . 

164.1  cm. 

152.2  cm. 

Minimum . 

150.5  cm. 

146.2  cm. 

Maximum . 

175.3  cm. 

159.7  cm. 

THE  STATURE  OF  THE  INDIANS 


423 


The  Nahua. — The  Nahua  occupy  extensive  regions  in 
southern  Jalisco  and  about  Lake  Chapala.  Their  tribal  identity 
is  uncertain,  the  term  Nahua  expressing  merely  their  linguistic 
affinity.  They  are  quite  civilized,  according  to  the  Mexican 
standard,  and  subsist  almost  wholly  by  agriculture.  By  their 
head-form  they  are  related  to  the  brachycephalic  peoples  of 
northern  Jalisco  and  Tepic.  There  is  among  them  some  mixture 
with  whites,  but  full-bloods  are  still  numerous. 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

men  (50) 

PER  CENT 

155.  i  to  160 . 

160. 1  to  165 . 

165.1  to  170 . 

170. 1  to  175 . 

175. 1  to  180 . 

I4.O 

46.O 

32.0 

6.0 

2.0 

— 

Average . . 

164.3  cm. 

Minimum . 

155.5  cm. 

Maximum . 

177.3  cm. 

The  TARASCO.  —  This  large  agricultural  tribe  live  in  the 
state  of  Michoacan.  They  are  dolichocephalic  and  of  moderate 
stature.  Mixed-bloods  are  frequent  in  settlements  nearest  those 
of  the  Mexicans,  but  deeper  in  the  territory  of  the  tribe  they  are 
scarce.  Statures  range  as  follows:  — 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

MEN  (50) 

PER  CENT 

WOMEN  (30) 

PER  CENT 

140. 1  to  145 . 

3-3 

145. 1  to  150 . 

56.6 

150. 1  to  155 . 

20.0 

155. 1  to  160 . 

30.0 

13.4 

160. i  to  165 . 

38.0 

3-3 

165.1  to  170 . 

20.0 

3-3 

170. 1  to  175 . 

IO. O 

— 

175. 1  to  180 . 

2.0 

— 

Average . 

163.1  cm. 

150.8  cm. 

Minimum . 

155.5  cm. 

144.7  cm. 

Maximum . 

175.5  cm. 

165.2  cm. 

424 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  Otomi.  — This  is  the  largest  tribe  in  northern  Mexico, 
but  it  no  longer  forms  a  unit.  Many  of  the  Otomi  are  fulL 
bloods,  but  many  are  mixed  with  the  Mexicans.  They  occupy 
a  hilly  to  flat  rather  than  a  mountainous  country,  and  subsist  by 
agriculture,  by  such  native  industries  as  pottery,  hat-making, 
etc.,  and  by  working  for  the  whites.  They  are  dolichocephalic 
to  mesocephalic  in  head-form,  and  rather  small  in  stature. 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

men  (62) 

PER  CENT 

WOMEN  (25) 

PER  CENT 

135.  i  to  140. .  . . 

4.0 

1 40 . 1  to  145 . . 

24.O 

145.  I  to  150 . .  . 

56.0 

150. 1  to  155 . 

12.9 

16.0 

155. 1  to  160 . 

38.7 

160. 1  to  165 . . 

29.0 

165.1  to  170 . 

19.4 

Average . 

159.3  cm. 

147.3  cm. 

Minimum . 

148.6  cm. 

139.8  cm. 

Maximum . 

169.7  cm. 

154.2  cm. 

The  Mazahua.  —  An  agricultural  tribe,  of  moderate  size 
and  fairly  civilized,  living  in  the  state  of  Mexico.  They  are 
somewhat  mixed  with  the  Otomi  as  well  as  with  the  Mexicans, 
but  full-blood  Mazahua  are  numerous.  Physically  they  are 
related  to  the  Tarasco  on  the  one  hand  and  to  the  Otomi  on  the 
other. 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

MEN  (41) 

PER  CENT 

Below  155 . 

I4.6 

155. 1  to  160 . 

17. I 

160. 1  to  165 . 

29-3 

165.1  to  170 . 

26.9 

170.1  to  175 . 

9.8 

175. 1  to  180 . 

4.9 

Average . 

160.9  cm. 

Minimum . 

148.0  cm. 

Maximum . 

174.7  cm. 

THE  STATURE  OF  THE  INDIANS  425 

The  TLAHUILTEC.  —  This  is  a  branch  of  the  Aztec,  pre¬ 
served  in  almost  a  pure  state  in  the  large  village  of  Cuautepec 
and  the  neighboring  country  on  the  west,  in  the  state  of  Morelos. 
Cuautepec  lies  in  a  hot  and  low  plain,  two  leagues  from  the 
capital  of  the  state.  The  people  are  agricultural;  many  of  the 
men  work  for  the  neighboring  Mexicans.  They  are  generally 
dolichocephalic  and  of  but  moderate  stature. 


HEIGHT  IN  CM. 

men  (50) 

PER  CENT 

WOMEN  (30) 

PER  CENT 

Below  140 . 

3-3 

140. 1  to  145 . 

16.7 

145.  i  to  150 . 

36.7 

150. 1  to  155 . 

8.0 

36.7 

155. 1  to  160 . 

46.O 

3-3 

160. 1  to  165 . 

26.0 

3-3 

165.1  to  170 . 

18.0 

170. 1  to  175 . 

2.0 

Average . 

161 .0  cm. 

148.9  cm. 

Minimum.  . . 

153.5  cm. 

139.5  cm. 

Maximum. . . 

172.9  cm. 

163.3  cm. 

RESUME  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  RESULTS 

The  following  table,  arranged  on  the  basis  of  the  average 
height  in  the  males  and  beginning  with  the  shortest  tribe,  will 
facilitate  a  general  review  of  the  subject  of  stature  of  the  In¬ 
dians  in  southwestern  United  States  and  northern  Mexico. 


MALES 

FEMALES 

Numberof 

Individ¬ 

uals 

Average 

Stature 

cm. 

Minimum 

cm. 

Maximum 

cm. 

Number  of 
Individ¬ 
uals 

Average 

Stature 

cm. 

Minimum 

cm. 

Maximum 

cm. 

Otomi  . 

62 

25 

41 

159-3 

160.2 

160.9 

148.6 

153.6 
148.0 

169.7 

167.5 

174-7 

25 

147-3 

139-8 

154.2 

Tepecano . 

Mazahua . 

426  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


r  / 

RESUME  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  RESULTS  (Continued) 


MALES 


FEMALES 


Number  01 
Individ¬ 
uals 

Average 

Stature 

cm. 

MiDimum 

cm. 

C 

P 

Eg 

K  O 
re 

s 

£4 

p 

z- 

> 
re  ~  ei 

EV  g 

Minimum 

cm. 

Maximum 

cm. 

Tlahuiltec  . 

50 

161 .0 

153-5 

172.9 

30 

745.91139-5 

163.3 

Tarasco  . 

50 

163.I 

155-5 

175-5 

30 

150.8 

144.7 

165.2 

Huichol . 

30 

163.4 

155  •  1 

I7I-5 

19 

154-3 

147. 1 

162.2 

Cora  . 

53 

164.I 

150.5 

175-3 

10 

152.2 

146.2 

159-7 

Tarahumare  . 

23 

164.2 

153-0 

174-5 

10 

152.7 

148.6 

159-6 

Nahua  . 

50 

164.3 

155.5 

177-3 

Pueblos  . 

383 

164.5 

148.2 

182.3 

59 

152.3 

143.5 

168.4 

Tepehuane . 

40 

165.3 

156.6 

180.8 

15 

151.6 

145.6 

157. 1 

Southern  Ute . . 

50 

166.8 

153-3 

178.8 

20 

153.7 

142.8 

164.5 

Opata . 

30 

167.0 

158.8 

180.5 

20 

155-0 

144.6 

163.2 

Mayo  .  . . 

53 

167.3 

154-7 

185.1 

30 

155-2 

147.0 

166.5 

Walapai  and  Havasupai 

47 

168.4 

155- 1 

180.2 

23 

157-7 

134-7 

172.2 

Apache . 

212 

169.1 

151 .0 

182.5 

70 

156.8 

147.2 

169.3 

Yaqui . 

50 

169.6 

i57-o 

180.4 

33 

154.2 

146.5 

161 .0 

Papago  . 

50 

170.9 

155-7 

180.8 

30 

155.9 

148.8 

163.3 

Navaho  . 

50 

17^.3 

162.4 

180.0 

30 

057.3 

148.4 

166.3 

Mohave  . 

45 

171.6 

161 .8 

186.2 

25 

158.5 

147-4 

169-3 

Pima  . 

53 

171.8 

161 .7 

181.4 

30 

157.4 

146.9 

164.8 

Yuma . 

37 

172.2 

159-9 

184.8 

5 

161.7 

157-5 

166.8 

Maricopa . 

40 

174.9 

1 62  -  5 1 1 85 . 1 1 

30  | 

160.4 

150.0 

170.8 

United  States  National  Museum 
Washington,  D.C. 


NOTES  ON  THE  IROQUOIS  LANGUAGE 


BY 

Franz  Boas 

LTHOUGH  a  considerable  number  of  grammars  and 


dictionaries  of  various  Iroquois  dialects  have  been 
published,  particularly  by  Catholic  missionaries,  it  is 


not  quite  easy  to  gain  a  clear  insight  into  the  structure  of  the 
language.  I  will  try  in  the  following  pages  to  elucidate  a  few 
of  its  fundamental  traits. 

PHONETICS.  —  The  method  of  rendering  sounds  in  the  works 
by  J.  A.  Cuoq,1  which  in  other  respects  are  of  rare  excellence, 
is  very  inadequate.  A  much  more  exact  method  has  been  applied 
by  Mr  J.  N.  B.  Hewitt  in  the  texts  of  Iroquois  cosmogonies, 
published  by  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology.2  His  method 
is  purely  empirical,  and  he  has  refrained  from  systematizing  the 
sounds  heard;  and  for  this  reason  his  texts  form  an  excellent 
basis  for  a  critical  study  of  the  phonetics  of  the  language,  the 
contradictions  and  variations  of  the  same  sounds  giving  us  a 
means  of  understanding  their  characteristics. 

The  principal  traits  of  the  phonetics  of  Iroquois,  as  I  have 
heard  it  pronounced  by  Mohawk  from  St  Regis,  are  the  follow¬ 
ing:  Vowels  occur  as  pure  vowels  and  in  nasalized  form.  The 

1  Lexique  de  la  langue  iroquoise,  Montreal,  1882.  Etudes  philologiques  sur  quelques 
langues  sauvages  de  I’Amerique,  Montreal,  1866. 

2Ircquoian  Cosmology  (Twenty- first  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Eth¬ 
nology,  pp.  127-339,  Washington,  1903). 


428  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


nasalized  vowel  of  the  a  group  is  pronounced  with  open  lips,  and 
is  therefore  related  to  the  n  series;  while  the  nasalized  vowel 
of  the  u  group  is  intonated  with  closed  or  nearly  closed  lips, 
and  is  related  to  the  m  series.  This  tendency  is  much  stronger 
in  Mohawk  than  in  Oneida  and  Tuscarora,  in  which  dialects  the 
closure  of  the  lips  is  quite  weak.  In  Mohawk,  on  the  other 
hand,  nasalized  terminal  u  sounds  almost  like  a  short  um. 

The  vocalic  system  of  Mohawk  may  be  represented  in  the 
following  manner:  — 


Pure  vowels . a  e  i  o  (w)1  (long  and  short). 

Nasalized  vowels . An  um. 


The  vowel  e  seems  to  be  always  open,  as  in  “tell”;  but  in 
Oneida  I  have  also  heard  e  as  in  German  “Mehl.”  The 
nasalized  An  has  a  very  weak  vocalic  timbre,  recalling  somewhat 
the  obscure  e  in  “flower,”  but  inclining  more  towards  and 
having  strong  nasalization.  In  Oneida  the  nasalization  becomes 
a  distinct  n  before  d  and  /,  and  the  vowel  loses  its  nasalized 
character.  This  tendency  seems  to  be  much  less  marked  in 
Mohawk.  In  some  speakers  from  St  Regis  I  did  not  notice 
it  at  all,  while  others  had  it. 

Among  the  consonants,  true  labials  and  labio-dentals  are 
absent,  although  Mohawk  has  a  bi-labial  f  which  appears  to  be 
a  strengthened,  strongly  aspirated  'w.  The  dental  and  alveolar 
series  is  very  well  developed,  particularly  the  affricative  series. 
We  find 

d  t 

z  s  i  c 

(*?)*  i  (*?> 


1  u  does  not  occur  in  Mohawk. 


NOTES  ON  THE  IROQUOIS  LANGUAGE  429 


The  first  column  in  these  series  represents  the  sonants;  the 
second,  the  surds.  As  in  most  American  languages,  the  stress 
of  articulation  in  these  two  groups  is  nearly  equal,  so  that  an 
accurate  observation  of  the  glottal  character  of  the  sounds  is 
required  in  order  to  distinguish  them.  The  surd  is  always 
pronounced  with  a  full  breath.  This  is  true  also  of  the  rela¬ 
tions  between  g  and  k.  The  sounds  j  and  c  represent  the  French 
j  and  the  English  sh;  z,  the  sonant  of  s;  £  and  sr  the  affricatives 
of  z  and  sy  like  dz  and  ts;  j  and  c}  the  affricatives  of  j  and  c} 
like  English  j  and  ch. 

Palatals  are  g  and  k.  To  these  must  be  added  a  continued 
sound  with  moderate  stricture  in  the  k  position.  With  other 
consonants  this  sound  approaches  the  consonant .y,  but  is  gener¬ 
ally  weaker  than  the  modern  English  wh  in  words  like  “whale.” 
Between  two  vowels  the  stricture  almost  disappears,  and  the 
sound  approaches  a  pure  h.  In  Oneida  this  stricture  is  much 
more  marked  than  in  Mohawk,  where  it  becomes  a  pure  aspira¬ 
tion.  This  sound  is  always  long  continued,  and  appears  there¬ 
fore,  when  combined  with  a  stop,  both  before  and  after  it.  On 
the  whole,  the  accent  determines  whether  the  breath  is  heard 
with  greater  distinctness  before  or  after  the  accompanying  con¬ 
sonant.  The  influence  of  this  sound  upon  the  Oneida  /  is  re¬ 
markable.  When  accompanied  by  this  breath,  the  /  is  pro¬ 
nounced  with  the  tip  and  adjoining  back  of  the  tongue  laid  flat 
against  the  palate;  the  air  escaping  between  the  teeth,  back  of 
the  canines.  I  render  this  sound  throughout  by  '. 

Mohawk  has  also  a  continued  palatal  sound  in  i  position, 
which  seems  to  belong  to  the  consonant  groups  gy  and  ky.  I 


430 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


have  not  been  able  to  decide  whether  these  groups  must  be 
considered  as  affricatives  of  anterior  palatals,  or  whether  they 
are  composite  sounds. 

The  r  of  Iroquois  is  a  very  weak  apical  trill,  which  in 
Mohawk  has  such  slight  amplitude  of  vibration  that  it  sounds 
similar  to  an  /.  In  Oneida  the  trill  disappears  entirely,  and  l 
takes  the  place  of  r. 

Finally,  the  weakened  vowels  u  and  i,  which  are  rendered 
by  <w  and  y,  must  be  mentioned. 

In  a  number  of  cases  an  indistinct  parasitic  vowel  is  heard 
after  long  vowels  (aa,  ll),  and  a  weak  hiatus  occurs  before  and 
after  consonants.  This  seems  to  be  due  to  a  weak  glottal  stop 
which  is  characteristic  of  many  western  American  languages, 
where,  however,  it  is  much  more  pronounced. 

The  system  of  consonants  is,  therefore,  as  follows:  — 


DENTALS  ANTERIOR  POSTERIOR 

PALATALS  PALATALS 

Stops .  d  t - — ■  — -  g  k 

Continuants .  z  s  j  c  —  x'  — -  '(•*) 

Affricatives  .......  z  s  j  c  ( gy ?)  ( ky ?) 

Trill  or  lateral. ...  r  l  {L • ) 

Semi-vowels .  w  y  f 

Breath  . 

Glottal  stops .  ' 


Hewitt’s  System  of  Rendering  Iroquois  Sounds. —  I 
give  here  a  comparative  statement  of  the  sounds  as  rendered  by 
Hewitt  and  as  heard  by  me  pronounced  by  St  Regis  Mohawk. 


1  In  Oneida. 


NOTES  ON  THE  IROQUOIS  LANGUAGE  431 


Hewitt  a  —  Boas  a 

Hewitt,  cae's’a  271. 11  1 
niiako'tas  270.12 
thatinak' ere’  263.12 
Hewitt  e  =  Boas  e 

Hewitt  ieteroh'ton '  261.1 

ionehra'kwat  266.4 

Hewitt  i  —  Boas  i 

Hewitt  ro’nV'ha  266.5 
aotcVtca  282.9 

Hewitt  ii  before  vowels  not  initial 
Hewitt  niiako'tas  270.12 

niio'ton'ha'tie '  262.12 
(see  also  p.  435) 

Hewitt  0  =  Boas  0 

Hewitt  o'heh'to n<  260.6 
Hewitt  en,  en=  Boas  au 
Hewitt  to'kenske  260.1 

ienkatiatioh'nite  282.4 
theh'tero n'  256.14 
Hewitt  uses  ea  fairly  consistently  before  i 
and  final. 


Boas  sae'eza 6 
niago'da^s 
tadina'  gere 

Boas  ieederum'dum 
yonera'gwa 

Boas  ronV'a 
0  jit' fa* 

Boas  i  or  iy 

Boas  niago'dats 

niyotum'a'dyee 

Boas  o' An'dum 

Boas  do'gAnsge 

iAnga'dyadyum'nidee 
tAn'derum 

w,  s,  kj  h,  ’ ;  eh,  before  t,  n,  r,  dj. 


en.  Before  i :  ienierat' hen>  262.10 

Exceptionally  eh:  ieh'iohwe ’  265.13 
mienheh'ien’  265.13 
Before  w :  e^wa'to0,  262.9 
Before  s:  to'kenskeJ  260.1 

enseni'niake ’  263.12 

Exceptionally  eh :  zua  eiakehseron  256.2 
Before  k:  enkana'non’  264.2 
e^kateh'ti  265.10 


1  Pages  and  lines  of  Hewitt’s  Iroquoian  Cosmology. 


432 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Before  nawen'ton'  264.1 
o’nisten'ha  265.15 
(P'sania'ke  263.10 
o'nen’  261.6 

Before  "  :  nakaronto'ten>  268.1 
ten’s  260.7 

Exceptionally  eh:  nihoksteti '  a  269. 10 


eh.  Before  t:  nohweh'to n  260.5 
o'heh'ton<  260.6 


Exceptionally  en:  tentkai'kenne’  257.1 
entie'ke’  256.7 

Before  n :  shatia'wehne’  260.4 

Exceptionally  en :  iatenno'sen'*ha  255.7 
Before  r:  watiako'nikon'raivehrie’  261.4 


aieh're ’  257.6 

Before  dj:  niwaton'hwehdjio'ten'  267.5 
Before  m  :  hehm  268.10  1 
Final:  neh  261.4 
Hewitt  on,  oh  =  Boas  um 
Hewitt  ieteroh'ton  261.1 

tohsaion'sheht' ho’  262.1 
tciehnou'tohnio 261.15. 
tedjia'ron'  268.2 


Boas  ieederum'dum 
dumsayumsAn'to 
jliADnumdum'  nyum 
dep'rum 


Hewitt  uses  on  before  '  and  oh  in  all  other  cases. 


on.  Before  '  :  on''ka  260.6 
tewa'ton's  261.7 
wa  d^'kawe'  261.12 
ndwen'r ton'  264.5 
kanon''sakoD '  261.1 
Exceptionally  oh:  o'sthoh''ha  268.6. 

Before  iesnon>'ke'  260.2 
ie'teron ‘  26 1. 1 


'  This  is  an  exclamation ;  m  does  not  occur  in  other  words. 


NOTES  ON  THE  IROQUOIS  LANGUAGE  433 


wai'ron"  267.3 
wakiatd'ton’ne’  266.13 
Exceptionally  on  :  tesaia  ta  ton  ' o11'  268.4 
oh.  Before  t:  orohto’ tsera' kon’  260. IO. 
iohthahi'ne’  268.14 
Before  s:  niiohsa'ien"  265.8 

iohsdierat'hen"  264.9 
Before  ts :  wa’ohts'te’  260.2 
Before  n  :  wa  hatinekotoh' ni  262.7 
id’ohnoh'wete"  266.7 
oterohtohm' a  268.1 
Before  k :  nohka'tT  260.11 
roh'kwe  268.14 
Before  r:  satohris' hen'  269.6 

wd'hen' nikoh'  rid'  ke  269.9 
id’thatohrVseratkoh'ten ’  260.1 
Before  w:  nohweh'ton  260.5 

rohwa' nV'ha  263.10 


Hewitt  t  (without  aspiration)  =  Boas  d 

Hewitt  kid’tdk'td’  283.3  Boas  gyaeda'kda 

hoten’'nioteJ  28 1. 1 1  rodAnnyode 

Only  before  g  sounds  do  I  hear  Hewitt’s  t  as  the  same  sound :  — 
Hewitt  diontkd’'tho’  262.13  Boas  ayumtga'to’ 

tkara  kwV  neken' s  256.4  t  gar  a  gw  V  n  eg  An’s 

Hewitt  th,  7,  'th  =  Boas  t 
Hewitt 


th:  thatlnak'ere  263.12 
theh'teron  256.14 
ia’tha'nho'' him  ke"  271.5 
wd't\6a'sheht,hd>  261.2 
'th  :  iako''thare ’  263.3 
diontka'tho ‘  262.13 
7:  thohtdio'tou'hd'tie"  261.3 


Boas  tadina' gere 
tA  n'derum 
iatan  o'"iage 
wadyumsAn'to 
yago'tare" 
ayumtga'to" 
tumdayo'tum'a'dye 


434 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Hewitt  s  =  Boas  z 

Hewitt  cae's’a  271.11  Boas  sae'*za 6 

ionsashako' n  ho' ton’  274.3  yumzasagon6'  dum 

sh onsaiak 0 tidj isk okewa'ni on’  275.1  sumza'yagodijisgogewa'nyum 


Hewitt’s  terminal  s,  and  s  before  stops,  I  hear  as  the  same  sound :  — 


Hewitt  tcietak'he’s  260.14 
to'kenske’  260.1 
skate' nieh'ton'  287.5 


Boas  Aeda'kes 

J 

do'gAasge 

sgade’nyAu'dum 


Hewitt  c,  sh,  's  =  Boas  s 
Hewitt  c:  cae's’a  271.11 

cd'hadjien'ht'sa ’  271.4 
'sh :  thd’tetcioa'sheht'ho's  261.14 
's:  wathathio'sotoh'niou’  284.1 
niiehaie^'sa  272.1 1 
kanon''sakou'  261.1 


Boas  sae'ezae 

sa'aAn'i'sae 
tade/umSAu'tos 
watatyosodum'nyum 
ntay  Au's  a 
ganum'sagum 


Hewitt  ts  —  Boas  / 

Hewitt  thitcakotkari' tserohm  hd' tie' se' 
I  should  expect  that  ts  of  Hewitt  would 
any  cases  of  this  kind. 

Hewitt  tsh  =  Boas  s 
Hewitt  ni  ha’ qhiots' hes’ a' 

Hewitt  tci,  tc,  dji  =  Boas  / 

Hewitt 

tci’.  tha’ tetcion'sheht' ho's  26 1. 1 4 
tha'  tetcio'  kwata'  se'  285.2 
tciako'teh'tion'  268.5 
ic :  aotcitca  282.9 
dji :  tedjiaron'  268.2 

na’kadjien,'hatV  270.9 
cd’hadjien'ht'sa'  271.4 


Boas  ti fago'tgari3erumni'a' dyesi 
correspond  to  z,  but  I  have  not  found 


Boas  ni' a’ x’ 6' sis’ a 


Boas  tadejumSA*'tos 
tade  Jo'gwada'se 
fago'dA^'dyu^ 

0  ji'jo? 
de j a' rum 
nagajAn,'adi 
sa'ajA  n'i'sa * 


NOTES  ON  THE  IROQUOIS  LANGUAGE  435 


In  a  number  of  cases  the  i  of  tci  has  a  vocalic  value.  Perhaps  this  is  always 
the  case  before  e  and  en. 


Hewitt  tcietak'te’s  260.14 

tciennontofi'nioa '  261.15 

Hewitt  k  (without  aspiration)  —  Boas  g 
Hewitt  kanon''sakon'  261.1 
orho^'ke'djt  265.3 
wa  d^'tkawe'  261.12  waum'tgaewee 

Before  stops  I  hear  the  simple  k  as  the  same  sound :  — 
Hewitt  kia’tdk'ta  283.3  Boas  gyaeda'kda 


Boas  jieda'kdees 

jfiumtiumdum/nyul 

Boas  ganum'sagum 

-  t  m  a#*  • 

or  umge  ]i 


Hewitt  kh,  'k  =  Boas  k 

Hewitt  tcietak'hes  260.14  Boas  fieda'kees 

wa  hatikhwen' ta  tie'  256.1  wa' adikw An' daenee 

Hewitt  i  after  t,  n,  and  k  =  Boas  y  \ 

These  sounds,  dy,  ty,  ny,  gy,  ky,  are  presumably  affricatives.  The  sounds  dy,  gy, 
and  ty,  ky,  are  so  much  alike  that  it  requires  the  closest  attention  to  dis¬ 
tinguish  them.  In  fact,  the  Mohawk  with  whom  I  worked  were  equally 
well  satisfied  with  my  pronunciation,  whether  I  said  dy  or  gy.  It  is  easy 
to  show  by  etymological  considerations  that  some  of  these  sounds  must  have 
developed  from  d,  others  from  g,  but  the  position  of  the  tongue  differs  only 
slightly  in  these  sounds. 


Hewitt  ieDkatiation'nite'  282.4 

wathathio'sotoh'nion'  284.1 
kiatak'ta'  283.3 
aoiisakie' wen' ta  tie'  282.2 

Hewitt  intervocalic  i  --  Boas  y 
Hewitt  niiehaie^'sa  272.1 1 
takeniia'kenne'  273.1 

Hewitt  qhi  —  Boas  x 

Hewitt  niha’qhiots'hes’a  318.9 


Boas  iAnga'dyadyum/ tilde0 
watatyosodu'mnyum 
gya'da'kda 
aumsagyeewAnd  aen  ee 

Boas  nl'ayj^'sa 
geniyd'genne 


Boas  ni'a'x'otSis 


436  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  differences  in  the  rendering 
of  sounds  are  mainly  the  following:  — 

Hewitt  hears  or  writes  the  surds  t  and  k  where  I  hear  the 
sonants  d  and  g  with  stress  similar  to  that  of  English  t  and  k, 
but  with  distinct  sonant  character.. 

He  writes  the  full  accompanying  breath  of  the  surd  as  a 
separate  sound,  — sometimes  sometimes  h,  —  so  that  the  com¬ 
binations  t,  th)  ' th ,  and  k,  khy  T/z,  express  these  surds. 

He  writes  the  breath  ',  /z,  7z ;  but  I  have  not  been  able  to 
discover  any  difference  between  these  sounds,  except  a  variation 
in  the  stricture  at  the  k  point,  which  seems  to  be  largely  indi¬ 
vidual  and  accidental. 

The  affricatives  as  rendered  by  him  have  the  same  traits 
as  the  stops. 

The  individuals  whom  I  heard  do  not  modify  nasalized 
vowels  before  consonants,  although  this  change  occurs  distinctly 
in  some  dialects. 

The  nasalized  u  vowel  (Hewitt’s  on)  has  distinctly  a  nasal¬ 
ization  with  closed  lips. 

I  hear  the  vowel  i  of  Hewitt  often  as  an  affricative  form 
of  the  preceding  consonant. 

INCORPORATION.  —  Iroquois  is  characterized  by  a  highly 
developed  tendency  to  incorporate  the  pronominal  subject  and 
both  pronominal  and  nominal  objects.  Incorporation  of  the 
nominal  subject  is,  however,  confined  to  inanimate  objects, — 
perhaps  to  words  beginning  with  the  prefixes  ga-  and  o-.  In 
all  cases  where  incorporation  occurs,  the  component  elements  of 
the  compound  term  undergo  such  fundamental  modifications  that 
the  unity  of  the  term  is  very  firm,  and  appears  as  a  word-unit. 


NOTES  ON  THE  IROQUOIS  LANGUAGE  437 


In  this  respect  the  compound  terms  of  Iroquois  resemble  those 
of  Algonquin  and  Eskimo,  although  the  principles  of  compo¬ 
sition  are  quite  distinct. 

Since  these  are  perhaps  the  most  fundamental  character¬ 
istics  of  Iroquois,  they  may  be  described  first.  Most  nouns  that 
are  not  descriptive  sentences  are  made  into  independent  terms 
by  one  of  the  two  prefixes  ga-  and  <5-;  as,  ga-lAnAna V  song; 
ga-num'sa,  house;  o-sAnna ,  name;  o-ll'wa ,  custom.  As  soon 
as  one  of  these  nouns  is  incorporated  in  a  verbal  form,  it  loses 
its  word-forming  prefix.  On  the  other  hand,  in  many  cases 
certain  elements  are  suffixed  to  the  nominal  stem  when  it  appears 
in  incorporated  form,  that  apparently  give  to  it  the  character 
of  a  verbal  noun  expressing  quality,  instrumentality,  and  similar 
ideas.  In  this  form  the  noun  is  inserted  between  the  prefixed 
pronouns  and  the  verbal  stem.  As  soon  as  this  composition  is 
made,  it  appears  that  each  stem,  both  nominal  and  verbal,  has 
a  certain  initial  vocalic  character  which  in  other  forms  does 
not  necessarily  appear.  The  simple  verb  is  thus  built  up  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  plan 

Pronoun  —  vocalic  character  —  stem. 

The  verb  with  incorporated  noun  has  the  following  form :  — 

Pronoun  —  vocalic  character  of  noun  —  nominal  stem  —  nominal  suffix  — 
vocalic  character  of  verb  —  verbal  stem. 

These  forms  may  be  further  developed  by  added  prefixes 
and  suffixes. 

The  vocalic  characteristics  of  verbs  and  nouns  are  identical. 
Five  forms  must  be  distinguished,  —  a ,  e,  i,  e ,  0. 

PRONOUN.  —  Before  it  is  possible  to  discuss  these  five  forms 
in  greater  detail,  it  is  necessary  to  describe  the  principal  charac- 

1  When  not  otherwise  indicated,  the  following  examples  and  forms  belong  to  the 
Oneida  dialect. 


438  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


teristics  of  the  pronoun.  Subjective  and  objective  pronominal 
forms  are  fundamentally  distinct.  While  the  former  are  used 
with  all  verbs  expressing  activities,  all  verbs  expressing  a  state  or 
condition  are  expressed  as  though  they  affected  an  object;  as  our 
“methinks.”  This  form  of  expression  is  very  often  used  in  Iro¬ 
quois.  Not  only  is  every  adjective  expressed  in  this  manner,  but 
also  every  completed  action  is  conceived  in  this  way.  The  Iro¬ 
quois  do  not  say,  “I  am  ignorant,”  but  “The  being  ignorant  is 
(on)  me.”  Instead  of  “I  have  seen,”  they  say,  “The  having 
seen  is  (on)  me.”  This  differentiation  of  subjective  and  objec¬ 
tive  verb  is  common  in  American  languages,  but  few  only  have 
carried  this  classification  to  such  extremes  as  the  Iroquois. 

Furthermore,  there  is  a  fundamental  difference  in  the  con¬ 
cepts  of  personal  relations  in  the  subjective  and  in  the  objective 
series.  In  the  subjective  series  fifteen  persons  are  distinguished, 
—  four  in  the  singular,  five  each  in  dual  and  plural,  and  an  indef¬ 
inite  third  person.  In  the  singular  we  find  the  first  and  second 
persons,  and  a  third  person  which  is  divided  into  a  masculine 
and  non-masculine,  which  latter  has  sometimes  erroneously  been 
called  feminine.  In  dual  and  plural  we  find  an  inclusive,  exclu¬ 
sive,  second  person,  and  third  person  masculine  and  non-mascu¬ 
line. 

In  the  objective  series  eleven  persons  are  distinguished, — 
the  same  four  forms  of  the  singular  that  occur  in  the  subjective 
series,  the  indefinite  third  person,  the  first  person  dual  (not 
exclusive  and  inclusive  as  in  the  subjective  series),  the  second 
person  dual  and  the  corresponding  plural  forms,  and  finally  a 
third  person  masculine  and  non-masculine  for  more  than  one, 
that  is,  a  common  form  for  dual  and  plural. 


NOTES  ON  THE  IROQUOIS  LANGUAGE  439 


The  personal  pronouns  have  very  peculiar  parallel  forms 
in  the  possessive  pronoun.  Nouns  which  are  subject  or  object  of 
a  sentence  have  possessive  pronouns  corresponding  to  the  objec¬ 
tive  forms,  and  which  differ  only  slightly  from  the  personal 
pronouns.  Nouns  with  locative  postpositions  have  often,  al¬ 
though  not  always,  fifteen  persons,  which  differ  slightly,  in  the 
indefinite  person  and  in  the  exclusive  dual  and  plural,  from  the 
personal  pronoun. 

Without  reference  to  their  differences  in  form  in  connection 
with  one  of  the  five  vowels  of  the  stem  with  which  they  are 
combined,  the  general  pronominal  scheme  may  be  represented 
as  follows : 1 — 


SUBJECTIVE  PERSONAL  PRONOUN 


Singular 

Dual 

Plural 

dy-j  dn- 

diu -,  dy- 

Inclusive 

1st  person 

s- 

yagy-,  yagn- 

yagw-,  yagy- 

Exclusive 

2d  “ 

z- 

zn- 

zw-,  f- 

2d  person 

3d  “  masc. 

l - 

t  t 

y-,  n- 

lum-,  lad-,  Iau- 

3d  “  masc. 

3d  “  non-masc. 

w-,  g-,  y- 

gy-,  gn- 

gum-,  gund-,  gun 

3d  “  non-masc. 

Indefinite  ium -,  i-,  yag- 

The  subjective  possessive  pronoun  shows  only  a  few  devia¬ 
tions  from  this  type;  in  place  of 


Exclusive  dual .  yagy->  yagn-  umgy-,  umgn- 

Exclusive  plural .  yagw-,  yagy-  umgw-j  umgy- 

Indefinite  .  ium-,  i-,  yag-  um-,  —,  ag- 


The  first  two  of  these  forms  are  identical  with  the  first  per¬ 
son  dual  and  plural  of  the  objective  possessive  pronoun. 


1  All  the  following  examples,  unless  otherwise  stated,  belong  to  the  Oneida  dialect 


440 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


OBJECTIVE  PERSONAL  PRONOUN 


Singular 

Dual 

Plural 

1st 

person 

wag- 

yumgy-j  yumgn- 

yumgw-,  yumgy 

2d 

<< 

z- 

zn- 

zw- 

3d 

masc. 

lo- 

Ion-,  lod- 

3d 

non-masc. 

yo- 

yon-,  yod- 

Indefinite  yago-  ( yagao -) 


The  objective  possessive  pronoun  shows  more  important 
differences  from  the  corresponding  personal  pronoun  than  the 
subjective  possessive  pronoun.  These  differences  are  in  part 
analogous  to  those  described  before.  All  possessive  forms  lack 
the  initial  y-  of  the  verbal  forms.  Besides,  an  a  appears  in  the 
third  persons  masculine  and  non-masculine,  which  seems  to  have 
been  lost  in  the  verbal  forms. 


OBJECTIVE  POSSESSIVE  PRONOUN 


Singular 

Dual 

Plural 

1st  person 

ag- 

umgy-,  umgn- 

umgw-,  umgy 

2d  “ 

z- 

h  zn' 

zw- 

3d  “  masc. 

lao- 

laon-,  laod- 

3d  “  non-masc. 

ao- 

aon-,  aod- 

Indefinite  ago-  ( agao -) 


On  the  whole,  we  receive  the  impression  that  g-,  z-,  /-,  are 
respectively  the  first,  second,  and  third  masculine  persons,  while 
the  characteristic  signs  of  the  remaining  persons  are  obscure. 
The  dual  seems  to  be  characterized  most  commonly  by  an  n 
following  the  pronoun;  while  the  plural  has  a  w  in  the  same 
position. 

On  pages  442  and  443  I  give  a  detailed  table  of  the  personal 
and  possessive  pronominal  prefixes  for  stems  with  the  five  vocalic 
characters. 


NOTES  ON  THE  IROQUOIS  LANGUAGE  441 


Apparently  these  forms  may  be  arranged  in  three  groups, 
according  to  their  vocalic  characters.  The  first  group  consists 
of  the  a  forms  alone;  the  second  embraces  the  e  and  i  forms; 
the  third,  the  e  and  0  forms.  I  have  indicated  in  the  tables,  by 
underscoring,  those  forms  that  are  characteristic  for  each  of  these 
groups,  and  an  examination  of  these  forms  will  prove  the  justifi¬ 
cation  of  our  classification.  The  principal  similarities  that  are 
characteristic  of  each  group  are  found  in  the  e  and  i  forms  and 
in  the  e  and  0  forms  in  the  third  persons  plural  and  indefinite. 
Peculiar  is  the  exceptional  position  of  the  a  forms,  which  have 
in  the  dual  throughout  y  where  the  other  forms  have  n ;  and  of 
the  0  forms,  which  in  the  plural  have  y  where  the  other  forms 
have  w. 

Another  phenomenon  substantiating  our  classification  of 
these  forms  appears  when  the  verbal  forms  take  prefixes.  In 
this  case  the  /  of  the  third  person  masculine  becomes  '  in  the  first 
two  groups  (a,  e,  i) ,  while  it  remains  unchanged  in  the  last 
group  (e,  0).  In  the  plural  this  change  takes  place  in  all  the 
groups  in  the  same  manner.  This  change  presumably  accounts 
for  the  initial  '  in  the  third  person  masculine  dual  of  the  sub¬ 
jective  prefixes. 

The  pronominal  forms  expressing  combinations  of  subject 
and  object  are  quite  remarkable  on  account  of  their  peculiar 
grouping.  The  relations  between  first  and  second  persons  form 
a  group  by  themselves,  in  so  far  as  only  three  forms  occur 
expressing  these  relations  for  the  three  numbers:  the  first  one 
expressing  their  relation  when  both  persons  are  singular;  the 
second,  when  either  the  one  or  the  other,  or  both,  are  dual;  the 


SUBJECTIVE  PREFIXES 


442 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


“1 

0  i| 

“1 

0 

0  0 1 

,  ^  Ql 

,  i  , 

R  -I 

0  a  «| 

0  R  i  1 

■a  “a  1 

tea 

'Cu 

» 

Co  -c 

R  § 

i  | 

R  3 

1  tea  ted 

a  a 

'  i 

i  R  3 

~a  ~a 

^  ^  ^ 

M 

a 

* 

a 

.  ^ 

1 

c 

,  ^ 

s  ^ 

.  ^ 

R  5 

,  tea  tea 

a  a 

•A  'r  B 

“a  as 

tea  s*.  e»> 

N  N  N 

-A  ^ 

1  Q 

R  3 

1  R 

'«  S 

1  teo  teo 
Q 

i  'S  3 

as  -a 

tea  S*. 

N  N  N 

MW 

— I 

71* 

'  I 

S.  s 

Hi 

E.S 

1  ^1 

^ .  1 

-a  la 

teo  Ste 

n  a  1  n 

U 

•  «  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

<L> 

•  •  • 

O 

•  •  * 

a 

•  •  » 

l-H 

•  •  • 

-c 

•  •  • 

U 

•  •  • 

J-C  •  * 

U 

u 

-2  ’  * 

Ctf 

0 

!  *73 

§i  *]  2 

.5  2  3 

111 

> 

3  3 

C/5  2 

Q* 

5>  as  0. 

33  Q, 

C  „ 

c 

<u 

> 

0  y 
(/)  > 

0 

C/5  ^ 

'  c/5 

3  - 

&  Js 

<D 

Cu 

u 

u 

C 

w  x 

s  w 

-d  3  2 

cs 

a 


C 


<D 

D, 

-a 

ro 


i  "a 


1  O 
,  o  R 
ORB 
Ss 


1 

1 

su  R 

r  a 

tea 


•  A.  "a 
e  « 


■  "a 
o  -JL  R 
^  r  a 

te«  tea 


^1.2 


_  T3 

c3  b 
3  r3 
T3  O. 


"a 

,  -i  R 

a  r  a 

ti/)  fe^o 


a 


d 

c  cs  a 
•-  3  "S 

</l  -Q  O. 

« 

_C 

3 

&  -  - 
c3  “ 

E 

c 

o 

c 

c 

o  _  „ 


"3  z 
m 


In  the  forms  marked  with  an  asterisk  (*)  the  possessive  subjective  pronoun  has  um  for  ya. 


OBJECTIVE  PREFIXES 


NOTES  ON  THE  IROQUOIS  LANGUAGE  443 


— 

— 

3AISS3SS0J 

1 

0 

0  J* 

be  6 

1 

0 

§ 

S 

1 

O 

t 

O 

a 

i 

i 

1  a 

O  O 

a  a 

1 

CD 

•  a 

g  g 

1 

CD 

5l 

a 

«3 

a 

N 

N 

S3  S3 

a 

1 

O 

O 

JBUOSJ3J 

1 

s,  £ 

§ 

1 

1  0 

1 

>  g 

O 

a 

a 

3 

P 

a 

6 

a 

1 

O 

O 

a 

0  a 
a  0 

0  a 
a  0 

5*. 

N 

3AISS3SSOJ 

1 

fee  B 

i 

3 

nj 

S 

<L 

a 

i 

3 

1  i 

S  « 

S  O 
a  a 

i  £ 

3  § 

i 

3 

§, 

S3 

a 

a 

N 

n 

N 

X4  *Si 

a  a 

, 

i 

J 

1 

K 

puosaaj 

85. 

§  a 

<x) 

a 

a 

1 

1 

a 

i 

3 

i  « 

•X 

3  e 

£  i 

3  R 

a  0 

1 

3 

>■> 

**> 

■—I 

““ 

.  1 

S3 

3A1SS9SSOJ 

.  R 

Si  ^4 

b/)  S 

3 

a 

S3 

.  1 

a 

a 

3 

.  '"5 

0  g 

#  1 

1  "a 

0  0 

I 

O 

•  w* 

XJ 

a 

a 

N 

N 

a  a 

a 

l 

a 

IBUosiaj 

&S56 
§  a 

E 

a 

1 

a 

'5 

<3 

3 

1 

1  "a 

0  0 

.  1 
.  *3 

0  0 

1 

CD 

a 

t3 

N 

5*>  >. 

1 

S3 

3A1SS3SSOJ 

a  p 

fejj  s 
ss  a 

3 

*■/> 

a 

a 

<5$ 

zwa- 

lao- 

laona- 

ao- 

aona- 

ago - 

• 

1 

a 

a 

puosiaj 

g.  Q 
s 

S  a 

a*9 

a 

t 

a 

tl 

S3 

3 

a 

0  0 

<a 

1  e 

0  0 

3 

9  ^ 

n  >a. 

N 

?*.  s*> 

5*3 

. 

u 

•  B 

u 

C3 

• 

c n  r 

.  Oh 

a 

C/D  r-^ 

c/D  U 

d  C/D 

?  B 

u 

&  0 

1  3 

JJ 

r— 1 

•*— < 

C  ' 

O  C 

<u 

4-» 

C/D 

0. 

c n 

B 

s  E 

a  ° 
c 

c 

u 

0 

> 

d  d 

4J 

C/D  C/D 

d 

*-> 

C/D 

a  d 

"S3  "O 

d 

'•d 

b  d 
"O  nj 

d  d 

"S3  "S3 

as 

d 

a 

►— 1 

t-i 

0.  (N 

co  co 

co  co 

HH 

1  The  i  forms  agree  with  the  e  forms,  except  that  in  the  1st  p.  s.  the  ending  is  i ;  in  the  1st  p.  ph,  ad 
i.  and  ph,  the  ending  is  An. 

2  1  originates  from  zy. 


444 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


third,  when  either  the  one  or  the  other,  or  both,  are  plural.  It  is 
immaterial  which  is  dual  or  plural.  These  forms  are  as  fol¬ 
lows  :  — 


1st  person  subject 
2d  “  object 

2d  person  subject 
1st  “  object 


a  e 


Singular 

gumya- 

gum- 

Dual 

gya- 

gni- 

Plural 

gwa- 

gwa - 

Singular 

sgiva- 

sge- 

Dual 

sgya- 

sgni- 

Plural 

sgwa - 

sgwa- 

i 

e 

0 

gum- 

gumye- 

gumyo- 

gni- 

gne- 

gno- 

giv  A n- 

give- 

gyo- 

sgi- 

sge- 

sgo- 

sgni- 

sgne- 

sgno- 

sgzvAn~ 

sgwe- 

sgyo- 

The  relations  of  the  first  and  second  persons  as  subject,  and 
of  the  third  person  as  object,  form  a  second  group.  In  order  to 
present  this  group  clearly,  I  give  only  the  pronominal  part 
without  the  stem-vowel,  and  the  characteristic  consonants  (y,  n , 
w)  for  the  various  classes  as  illustrated  in  the  preceding  tables. 


I  —  him 

'iy- 

'es- 

I  and  thou 

—  him 

' ety 

'etn- 

'ec-y  'esn- 

I  and  ye  — 

him 

'etw-, 

'ety- 

'eszv-,  'esy- 

thou  —  him 
you  two  —  him 
he  —  your  two  selves 
ye  —  him 
he  —  you 


Here  belongs  also 

he  —  thee  'y- 

A  third  group  includes  the  relations  of  the  indefinite  subject 
to  the  first  and  second  persons  object,  and  the  reversed  rela¬ 
tions  :  — 


somebody  —  me 
somebody  —  us 
somebody  —  thee 
somebody  —  you 


yumgiu-, 

yumkl- 

yez- 


yumg- 

yeci- 


yeti- 

yakt- 


key-,  ke- 


sey-,  se- 


ye  and  I  —  somebody 
they  and  I  —  somebody 
ye  —  somebody 
I  —  somebody 
thou  —  somebody 


NOTES  ON  THE  IROQUOIS  LANGUAGE  445 


The  relations  of  the  indefinite  third  person  to  the  definite 
third  persons  are  allied  to  the  corresponding  third  persons  of  the 
subjective  and  objective:  — 


Subject:  somebody 


Object:  somebody 


him 

lumw-j  lumy- 

sago- 

it 

(non-masc.) 

gumu'-,  gumy- 

yago- 

them  (masc.) 

lumwan lumwadi- 

sagon-,  sagodi- 

them 

(non-masc.) 

gumwan-,  gumwadi- 

yagon-,  yagodi- 

he 

it  (non-masc.) 
they  (masc.) 

"hey  (non-masc.) 


The  relations  of  the  third  person  masculine  subject  to  the 


first  person  are  as  follows:  — 


he  —  me 

he  —  our  two  selves 
lie  —  us 


lagw-,  lag- 

sumgy-,  sumgn-  sagy -,  sagn- 

sumgw-,  sumgy-  sagw-,  sagy- 


I  and  he  —  him 
I  and  they  —  him 


Finally  we  find  — 

he  —  him  lo- 


The  forms  with  non-masculine  subject  are  throughout  iden¬ 
tical  with  the  objective  personal  pronominal  forms. 

The  simplest  form  in  which  these  complicated  groupings 
can  be  given  in  tabular  form  seems  to  be  the  following.  In 
these  tables,  y,  n,  indicate  the  dual  forms  for  the  a  stems  and  the 
e ,  x,  e,  0  stems  respectively;  w,  y,  indicate  the  plural  forms  for 
the  e,  i,  e  stems  and  for  the  0  stems  respectively. 


me  us 


I 

we  exclusive 
we  inclusive 

—  — 

thou 

sgw-,  sg-  1 

ye 

[sg  (y,  n;  w,  y)- 

thee  you 

gumy-,  gum\ 

If  {y,  n;  w,  y)- 


it 

key- 

yaki- 

yeti- 

sey- 

ytci- 


Masculine  Singular 


him 

he 

I 

'*> 

lagw-,  lag- 

me 

we  exclusive 

sag  {y,  n;  w,  y)- 

sumg  {y,  n;  w,  y)- 

us 

we  inclusive 

'et  (y,  11;  w,  y)- 

thou 

'ets~ 

y- 

thee 

ye 

'es{y,  n 

;w,y)- 

you 

he 

lo- 

him 

446  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

Indefinite  (also  Non-Masculine,  Dual,  Plural  Third  Person 


he 

it  (non-masc.) 
they  (masc.) 
they  (non-masc.) 


sago- 

lumw-,  lumy- 

yago- 

gumiv-,  gumy- 

sagon-,  sagod- 

lumiuan-,  lumwadi- 

yagon-,  yagod- 

gumwan -,  gumwadi- 

him 

it  (non-masc.  object) 

them  (masc.) 

them  (non-masc.  object) 


The  various  forms  with  their  respective  stem-vowels  are 
treated  like  the  subjective  and  objective  forms. 

First  persons  in  gwa-  are  treated  like  the  objective  waga :  — 


a  e  i  e  o 

thou  —  me .  sgwa-  sge-  sgi-  sgwe-  sgo- 

he  —  me . . .  laguia-  lage-  lagi-  lagwe-  lago 


All  duals  in  y,  n,  and  all  plurals  in  w,  y,  are  treated  like 
the  corresponding  duals  and  plurals,  and  require  no  further 
illustration.  These  forms  occur  only  in  combinations  of  first, 
second,  and  third  masculine  singular  persons. 

The  forms  in  ago-  are  treated  like  the  personal  objective 
indefinite;  those  in  on-,  od-\  an-,  ad-,  like  the  personal  objective 
third  person  plural. 

Those  in  i  and  y  require  separate  treatment.  We  find  — 


a 

e 

i 

e 

0 

I  —  thee . 

gumya- 

gum- 

gum- 

gumye- 

gumyo- 

I  — it . 

keya- 

ke- 

ke- 

keye- 

keyo- 

thou  —  it.  .  .  . 

seya- 

se- 

se- 

seye- 

seyo- 

I  —  him . 

'ya- 

'i- 

« • 
l " 

'iye- 

'iyo- 

we  exclusive  — 

•it 

yakia- 

yaki- 

yaki- 

yakie- 

yakio- 

we  inclusive  — 

•it 

yetia 

yeti- 

yeti- 

ye  tie- 

yetio- 

ye  —  it . 

yedia 

yeti- 

y  edi- 

ye  die- 

ytcio- 

he  —  thee.  .  .  . 

'ya- 

'ya- 

' yA n- 

'ye- 

'yo- 

All  these, 

with  the  exception  of 

“he  — 

thee,”  are 

treated  in 

the  same  manner.  In  the  a,  e,  o  forms,  the  y  or  i  stands  before 


NOTES  ON  THE  IROQUOIS  LANGUAGE  447 


the  stem-vowel ;  in  the  e  and  i  forms,  the  vowel  disappears,  and 
with  it  the  y.  The  form  “he —  thee”  is  treated  as  though  'y 
stood  for  Iz ,  a  transformation  that  is  not  improbable. 

The  form  “thou  —  him”  'es-  takes  the  stem-character  fol¬ 
lowing  the  pronominal  element. 

The  remaining  forms  are  — 

a  e  i  e  0 

somebody  —  him.  lumwa-  lumwa-  lumwAn-  lumwe-  lumwayo- 

somebody  —  it..  gumwa-  gumwa-  gumWAn-  gumwe-  gumwayo- 

The  system  of  personal  pronouns  in  Mohawk  is  quite  similar 
to  that  of  Oneida,  but  there  are  a  number  of  minor  differences. 
According  to  the  phonetic  character  of  the  dialect,  r  takes 
everywhere  the  place  of  /.  Before  the  n  of  the  dual  and  the  w 
of  the  plural  (except  after  g),  a  distinct  short  e  is  inserted,  so 
that  we  have  — 

Inclusive  plural  dewa-  instead  of  dwa  of  Oneida. 

Exclusive  dual  yageni-  instead  of  yagni  of  Oneida. 

The  possessive  objective  of  the  first  person  singular  in  the 
a  form  is  in  Mohawk  aga-  instead  of  agwa-  of  Oneida. 

In  the  pronominal  forms  with  incorporated  object,  we  find 
in  Mohawk  —  instead  of  the  forms  beginning  with  s -,  expressing 
second  person  subject  and  first  person  object  —  forms  beginning 
with  da- :  — 

thou  —  me  dagwa. 

Only  when  the  verb  has  a  prefix  do  these  forms  change  to 
s  forms  identical  with  those  of  Oneida. 

Important  differences  are  found  in  the  groups  of  terms 


448  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


expressing  the  relations  of  the  third  person  masculine  singular 
and  the  first  and  second  persons. 


Oneida  Mohawk  Oneida  Mohawk 


I  —  him 

V 

ri- 

'es- 

(e)s- 

thou  —  him 

I  and  thou 

'et  (y,  n)- 

(e)cfi'd  ( y,en )- 

'e?-,  'esn- 

'( e)cidj - 

fyou  two  —  him 

—  him 

(e)cizen- 

he  —  your  two 

[  selves 

I  and  ye 

'et  ( w,y  )- 

( e)ci'd  ( ew,y )- 

'es(w,  y)- 

(e)ci'zew- 

( ye  —  him 

—  him 

(e)ci'r 

l  he  —  you 

The 

e  here  is 

omitted  after  prefixes. 

“He  — 

thee”  has  no 

aspirate,  but  is  in  Mohawk 


la  la  tAn  ie  io. 

Only  after  prefixes  does  the  aspirate  here  appear. 

Verbal  Prefixes  and  their  Influence  upon  the  Pro¬ 
noun.  —  A  number  of  temporal  and  modal  ideas  are  expressed 
by  means  of  prefixes  which  have  an  influence  upon  the  pronomi¬ 
nal  forms.  It  has  been  pointed  out  before  that  in  the  a ,  e ,  and  i 
stems  in  all  plural  forms,  the  masculine  /-  (Mohawk  r-)  becomes 
but  a  number  of  additional  changes  are  brought  about  by  a 
few  of  the  prefixes. 

i.  wa-  expresses  the  aorist.  After  this  prefix,  the  verbal  y- 
of  the  third  person  indefinite  and  of  the  non-masculine  of  verbs 
in  o-  disappears,  and  also  the  corresponding  ya -  of  the  exclusive. 
In  all  forms  in  which  a  plurality  or  duality  of  persons  including 
the  second  occurs,  the  prefix  is  we-  in  place  of  wa-.  These  forms 
are  the  inclusive  and  the  second  persons  dual  and  plural.  The 
non-masculine  singular  of  the  verb  in  a-  has  the  contracted  form 


NOTES  ON  THE  IROQUOIS  LANGUAGE  449 


um~.  Thus  the  following  variants  of  the  normal  pronominal 


forms  appear:  — 

Exclusive  dual . . 

a 

wagya- 

e 

wagni- 

i 

wagni- 

e 

wagne- 

0 

wagno- 

plural  .  . .  . 

.  wagwa- 

wagwa- 

wagWAn- 

wagwe- 

wagyo- 

Indefinite . 

waum- 

wae- 

wage- 

wae- 

wago- 

Non-masculine  . 

3d  pers.  masc.  sing.  . . 

um- 

.  wa'a- 

waa- 

wa'  An- 

wale- 

wao- 

walo- 

“  “  “  plur.  ... 

wa'uA- 

waadi- 

waadi- 

wa'  a*  ne- 

wa'  Anno- 

Inclusive  dual . 

.  ivedya - 

we  dm- 

wedni- 

wedne- 

wedno- 

plural  .  . . . 

wedwa- 

wedwa- 

iuedwAn- 

wedwe- 

wedyo- 

2d  person  dual . 

.  we  ja- 

wezni- 

wezni- 

wezne- 

wezno- 

“  “  plural  .... 

.  wezwa- 

wezwa- 

wezwAu- 

wezwe- 

we  jo- 

2.  An-  expresses  the  future.  It  transforms  the  l  of  the 
masculine  into  '  in  the  a,  e ,  and  i  forms  in  the  singular,  and  in 
all  forms  in  the  plural.  When  the  future  is  formed  of  a  verb 
taking  objective  pronouns,  the  /  changes  to  '  with  all  stem- 
vowels. 

3.  a-  expresses  the  subjunctive.  It  changes  /  to  '  as  the 
other  prefixes  do,  and  inserts  an  e  after  the  a  in  all  forms  in 
which  a  duality  or  plurality  of  persons  including  the  second  is 
involved.  These  forms  in  ae-  correspond,  therefore,  to  the  forms 
in  we-  of  the  aoristic  prefix  wa-.  In  intransitive  verbs,  all  / 
forms  change  to  '. 

4.  z-  (“again”)  shows  peculiar  forms,  which  are  apparently 
produced  by  contractions  of  this  prefix  with  the  initial  y  of  the 
subjective  forms,  which  must  also  be  supposed  for  the  inclusive 
forms,  and  insertion  of  e  for  the  second  persons  dual  and  plural, 
as  before  described.  In  the  aorist  the  z  is  contracted,  with  wa 
and  we,  to  za  and  ze.  In  the  examples  that  were  given  to  me  the 


450 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


verbal  y  does  not  disappear.  Thus  I  have  found  the  following 
forms:  — 


a 

Present  Aorist 

e 

Present 

0 

Present 

Inclusive  dual. . . 

“  plural . . 

jidya-  zedya- 

fidwa-  zedwa- 

fulne- 

jidwe- 

jidno- 
jidyo-  (?) 

1st  person  singular . 

Exclusive  dual . 

“  plural  . . 

zaga-  zaga- 

jagya-  zayagya- 

jagwa-  zayagwa- 

sge- 

jagne- 

jagwe- 

sgo- 

jagno- 

fagyo- 

2d  person  singular . 

“  “  dual  . 

“  “  plural . 

zesa-  zasa- 

fija-  zeja- 

jizwa-  zezwa- 

zeze- 

zezne- 

zezwe- 

zezo- 

jizno- 

}ij°- 

3d  person  masc.  singular . 

“  “  “  dual  . 

“  “  “  plural  ....... 

s'a-  sa'a- 

ca-  za'ya- 

s'um-  zdum- 

sle- 
s'ne- 
s'  ADne- 

slo- 
s'no- 
s'  A  nno- 

3d  person  non-masc.  singular.  . 
“  “  “  dual  .... 

“  “  “  plural  ... 

ziua-  zum- 

sgya-  zagya- 

sgum-  zagum- 

zwe- 

sgne- 

sgune- 

r 

sgno- 

sguno- 

Indefinite . 

fum-  zayum- 

jage- 

1 ago - 

5.  de-  expresses  the  idea  of  duality,  a  concept  that  is  ever 
present  in  the  mind  of  the  Iroquois,  so  that  verbs  which  imply 
the  presence  of  two  acting  individuals  or  parts  always  have 
this  element.  In  the  present  and  perfect  of  a  stems  it  stands 
before  the  pronouns,  and  transforms  /  into  '.  The  future  prefix 
An  follows  the  de -,  which  loses  its  vowel  and  assumes  the  form 
dAn~.  In  the  aorist,  wa-  precedes  it,  while  the  e  of  the  second 
person  dual  and  plural  follows  it.  The  de-  itself  loses  its  vowel. 
Before  g  and  ',  the  d  that  remains  after  the  loss  of  the  vowel  of 
de-  is  hardened  to  t. 


watgasga't  um 
d  Aasasga'  1'  um 
de  aZga'l'u™ 
de'asga'Tu m 
wadyumlga'l'um 
deyumSga'l  um 


I  chewed 

thou  art  going  to  chew 
he  chews 
he  has  chewed 
it  chewed 
it  chews 


NOTES  ON  THE  IROQUOIS  LANGUAGE  451 


The  importance  of  this  prefix  appears  clearly  from  the  long 
list  of  Mohawk  words  in  Cuoq’s  Dictionary  that  begin  with  te-.1 

6.  d-  (“here,  thither”).  This  prefix  changes  /  to  as  usual; 
it  is  hardened  to  t  before  g  and  '.  In  all  present  and  perfect 
forms  which  include  the  second  person,  it  takes  e  following  it, 
even  in  the  second  person  singular.  In  the  aorist  the  forms  are 
identical  with  those  of  z-  (“again”) ,  d  being  substituted  through¬ 
out  for  £.  In  the  future,  the  prefix  Aa  precedes  the  pronom¬ 
inal  forms  of  the  present. 

When  d-  (“here”)  and  de-  (“two”)  appear  in  combination, 
the  prefix  de-  (“two”)  precedes  the  forms  for  “hither,  here,”  as 
described  before,  in  the  present  and  perfect.  In  the  future,  dAn- 
is  prefixed  to  the  same  forms;  in  the  aorist,  dum-  precedes  the 
corresponding  aoristic  forms. 

i-.  A  number  of  verbs  of  the  e  and  e  forms  have  a  prefix 
i-  which  has  no  discernible  meaning.  Examples  are:  — 


V  glade 

I  stand 

i'gyAns 

I  put  down 

i'k'as 

I  carry 

i' kg  ads 

I  have  the  power  of  seeing 

Vk' awe 

I  carry  along 

i'ksaPs 

I  finish 

i'k'es 

I  bring 

i'kwas 

I  pick  up 

i'gyaks 

I  cut 

i'geks 

I  eat 

This  prefix  is  not  always  used  in  all  persons.  Its  use  i9 
always  confined  to  the  present  tense  in  which  it  may  persist, 
while  in  some  cases  its  use  is  limited  to  the  first  and  second 
persons;  or  it  may  not  be  found  with  the  second  person.  Exam¬ 
ples  of  these  cases  will  be  given  later  on. 

Remarks  on  the  e  Forms.  —  Verbs  of  the  e  class  appear, 
when  the  stem  begins  with  a  consonant,  without  vowel.  This  is 
always  the  case  when  the  accent  is  thrown  back  so  that  it  stands 


1  See  pp.  43-48. 


452 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


on  a  syllable  preceding  the  pronoun;  but  the  same  change  occurs 
in  other  words  also.  In  these  verbs,  certain  contractions  occur  in 
the  first  and  second  persons  singular  of  the  subjective  and  in 


the  first  person  of  the  objective. 

Before  '  g  s 

d 

n 

y 

g  becomes  k  k  k 

k 

g 

gy 

z  becomes  s  s  s 

s 

s 

h  *y 

- yesa e  to  become  useless:  — 


ist  pers.  sing.  pres. 

gye'saes 

2d  “ 

jfe'saes 

-gw  to  pick  up :  — 

ist  pers.  sing.  pres. 

i'kgwas 

ist  pers.  sing.  perf. 

wakgwAn 

2d  “ 

i'sgwas 

-sa  to  finish :  — 

ist  pers.  sing.  pres. 

i'ksas 

ist  pers.  sing.  perf. 

wa'ksum 

2d  “ 

i'sas 

-nun  e  to  watch:  — 

ist  pers.  sing.  pres. 

gnu'ne 

ist  pers.  sing.  perf. 

wagnuna'u' 

2d  “ 

snu'ne 

(but  aorist  wagenum''nee) 

-lade  to  stand :  — 

ist  pers.  sing.  pres. 

i'  glade 

ist  pers.  sing.  perf. 

waglada'um 

2d  “ 

i'slade 

(aorist:  w a' glade) 

-  ande  to  go  ahead :  — 

ist  pers.  sing.  pres. 

kande' 

ist  pers.  sing.  perf. 

waka'ndum 

2d  “ 

sande' 

In  the  dialects  of  Iroquois  the  disappearance  of  the  vowel 
is  not  always  found  in  the  same  verb,  and  even  the  same  dialect 
has  varieties  of  forms.  Thus  we  find  in  Oneida  both  igli'us  and 
igeli'us  (“I  kill”). 

The  Suffixes  of  the  Incorporated  Noun.  —  It  has  been 
stated  before  that  some  nouns  in  incorporation  take  suffixes  ex- 


NOTES  ON  THE  IROQUOIS  LANGUAGE  453 


pressing  abstract  ideas  or  terms  of  instrumentality.  These  suf¬ 
fixes  are  -sla  (Mohawk  -  sera) ,  -gwa,  and  a  few  others.  The 
suffix  -sla  is  clearly  originally  an  element  used  to  express  ab¬ 
stract  verbal  nouns. 


adAnlo'zla  friendship,  from  -dAnlo'  to  be  friendly. 
nagla'sla  village,  “  -nagle  to  live. 

adliyo'sla  war,  “  -dli'yus  to  fight. 


An  example  of  the  occurrence  of  this  suffix  with  an  incor¬ 
porated  noun  is  — 


add slaga' yu m  old  stick  ( add  stick;  -ga'yum  to  be  old) 

An  example  of  the  occurrence  of  the  suffix  -gwa  in  the  same 
position  is  — 


gadagdda'dye  I  wear  a  shoe  {ga-  I,  with  a  stem  of  -da  shoe;  go  for  -gwa, 
with  0  stem  of  -dadi  to  wear). 

Another  suffix  of  similar  kind  seems  to  be  a  simple  aspira¬ 
tion  :  — - 


galiwiyo '  a  good  custom  {ga-  3d  pers.  non-masculine  for  e  stem  of  o-li'wa 
custom;  stem  with  suffix  of  incorporation  -liw-,  iyo'  good,  beautiful). 

IRREGULAR  Verbs.  —  A  number  of  verbs  belong  to  different 
vowel-groups  in  different  tenses  and  different  persons.  A  few 
examples  of  these  ma}^  be  given . 

To  SAY. 

Present  dumhe  tf-form  Aorist  0  i-form  with  irregular  forms 

Future  lum  i- form  Perfect  An  e-form,  but  irregular 


454 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


A  orist 


waani ,e 

they  (masc.)  said 

wagorii '® 

they  (non-masc.)  said 

Perfect 

u’d'gA n 

yum'gnAa 

yum'gu>Aa 

I  have  said 
we (2) have  said 
we  have  said 

la'wA n 

ya'wAn 

yaga'wAn 

he  has  said 

it  ( non-masc. )  has  said 

some  one  said 

i'zAa 

i'znAa 

VzwAn 

thou  hast  said 
ye  ( 2 )  have  said 
ye  have  said 

lo'nAn 

yo'tiAn 

they  (masc.)  have  said 
they  (non-masc.)  have  said 

From  this  is  formed  another,  second  perfect,  by  the  suffix 
-lun,  Which,  however,  in  the  forms  first  person  singular  and 
the  third  persons  singular,  changes  to  'um.  The  i-  of  the 
second  person  is  at  the  same  time  dropped.  The  third  per¬ 
son  masculine  singular  has  both  forms,  -lum  and  'um. 

To  EAT.  i-ks  follows  the  e  type,  except  the  indefinite  (which 
has  c),  the  third  person  singular  masculine  and  non-mas¬ 
culine,  and  the  plurals  with  w  (which  follow  the  a  type). 

To  DESIRE,  i-l'e  follows  the  e  type,  except  in  the  non-masculine 
singular  (which  has  the  form  wa'e'l'e  in  the  aorist)  and  in 
the  indefinite  (which  forms  iyAn'I'e  present,  <wayAn'l'e 
aorist) . 

To  WALK,  i-  (c)  has  similar  forms.  Apparently  the  stem  and 
its  vocalic  character  form  a  unit  here.  This  verb  follows 
the  e  type,  except  in  the  non-masculine  singular,  which  has 
wae '  in  the  aorist;  the  indefinite,  which  is  iyAn'ge  present, 
wayAn'  aorist. 


NOTES  ON  THE  IROQUOIS  LANGUAGE  455 


ONEIDA  TEXT 


Ne  1 

oli'waga' yum  2 

wae'lagor'a 3  yagAD,4  ne  1 

yena'gele  5 

The 

belief  old 

somebody  took  it  is  said,  that 

some  one  lives 

it  off 

yaum'tsa'de,6  ne'ok'7 

agoksta11'',8  6' kale  9  yekza'e;10 

undadadle'' a  11 

some  one  took  him-  except  an  old  woman,  also  a  child;  her  grandchild 
self  entirely  away, 


zayonada'dA^le.12  O'  kale  9 


o'nAa  13 


ne 


they  were  deserted.  And  so  after  a  while  the 


yekza 

child 


'e  10 


wai 


j'e  14 


said, 


"Toye'dnu.”  1 5  ( S°'fl  *6  yot'ai'zu™  17  fi  nyeyagawe'nu™  18  yago'lago''um. 

“Thither  let  us  (So  much  the  trail  when  thither  some  some  one  had  taken 
two  go!”  was  finished  one  had  gone  it  [non-masc.]  off. ) 


0'n.An  13  tonyaa'gne.  20  Yeyadazera  21  waerAnde.22  Kale 9  o'n^ a  13 
Then  there  thither  they  Some  one  young-  some  one  Now  then 


two  went. 

bodied  being 

went  ahead. 

wau™' dye*l A*  23 

gwa' 

yelAnnoda'di  24 

ne  1  o' so' t' a  25 

yundu'™'e  26 

some  one  was 

how 

some  one  carried 

the  her  grand¬ 

says 

made  aware 

song  along 

mother 

yn'gAn, 4  "Da 

'gAD  27 

djTdezatga'to!” 

28  Umdye'lAn  23 

ne  1  ni 

it  is  said,  “Don’t 

look  that  way!” 

She  was  made 

the  how 

aware 

yeya'daze  21 

ne  1  agokstAn'h.  8  To  ni  2$ 

feyadd'dAn  30  ji 

niyo'tum'ne  31 

she  was  young- 

the  old 

woman.  That  how 

again  her  like 

it  used  to  be 

bodied  body  was 

ne  yeyadaze''*.21  To  d'nAnyae  32  wa-um'dum.33 

that  she  a  young-  Then  stone  she  became, 

bodied  one. 


To  num' 34  niga'awi'*  33 

That  at  thus  it  went 
along 


dundasagotg Anze''a  36 

thither  looking  for 
them  came 


sayd'dat ,  37 
one  body, 


todunda'a'd  Andi*  3*  ji  dye' la' gw  as.  39  0'nAn  13  ok  7  gAnsum 

thence  he  came  where  there  some  one  And  but  near  by 

was  taking  off. 


456  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

ne'negA  a  i'sle. 40  To  gadi  ne 41  sasagoya'dago 42  ne 

indeed  he  goes  back.  That  again  so  he  body-takes  up  the 

yekza'e.  10 

child. 


Ne'gadi  41 

zvi'ne 

43  fi 

onAnya'e  31 2 3 4 5 6 * 

yagodum'  44 

ne  1 

Thus 

therefore  thus 

stone 

some  one  became 

the 

agokst  An'ha;  8 

oko'nie 

45  fi/i® 

fi  ya'detundAnlosliyone'e  46 

ne 

old  woman ; 

and  also  because 

there  not  they  being  friendly 

the 

oliwagaynm  3 

ne'ne 

fi  ne 

divayado'dAn  47 

lundnagla  sleza'  ksgwe 

e  .  48 

old  custom, 

that 

when  the 

we  body-being 
thus 

they  searched  for  villages; 

to' g a  ns  ya'gAu  4 

wahundum 

go'dee  49  fi 

yonAuyo'de  50 

ne 

then  it  is 

said 

they  passed  by  where 

stone  stood 

the 

agokst  A"g-An,  18 

ne ' 

'ne  d onanu' ri dA^ne*  5* 

fi  m  onadlaso' d A 

n  52 

old  woman,  that  they  might  know  where  their  fate  would 

be  thus 

ne  adliyo'sla'ge.  53 
the  on  warfare. 

To'ne  tumwades  nna'wi  54  fi  naumgyum'iu Aufo'd ab  55  ne 1 

Then  them  they  name  where  thus  our  earth  being  the 

were  given  of  the  kind 

OnA^yodaaga. 56 
Oneida. 


1  ne  a  nominal  particle. 

2  o-ti'iva  (e-stem ;  incorporated  form  -li'wa)  custom,  belief;  gali'wiyo  A  good  cus¬ 
tom;  oli'wagd'yum  old  custom.  -gayum  old;  for  instance,  olundaga'yum  old  tree; 
ada'slaga' yum  old  STICK. 

3  -‘lagivas  present,  lago"a  aorist,  -‘la'gwAn  perfect  (e-stem)  TO  take  off,  partic¬ 
ularly  to  hunt  pigeons.  Indefinite  person,  aorist. 

4  yagAD  quotative  particle. 

5  -nagele  present,  na'glat  aorist,  -naglAa>’um  perfect,  -na'glage  future  (e-stem)  TO 
live.  Indefinite  person,  present;  here  expressing  a  noun. 

6  -saa't'a  present,  -sa'de  aorist,  -sad‘dum  perfect  ( e-stem )  to  take  all  away.  One 

of  the  numerous  class  of  verbs  in  -t‘a  present,  -‘ge  aorist,  mostly  causatives.  The 


NOTES  ON  THE  IROQUOIS  LANGUAGE  457 


stem  is  probably  sal  or  saa.  This  verb  takes  here  the  incorporated  nominal  -t  (a-stem) 
which  makes  the  passive  (so  that  all  passives  are  a-verbs).  Thus  um'tsa‘de  is  the  aorist 
passive  singular  non-masculine;  ye-  thence,  a  demonstrative  verbal  prefix. 

7  ne'ok‘  particle  ne  (see  Note  i)  and  ok ‘  but.  Compare  <walze'dum,  ok‘  zahatga'to 
IT  WAS  HIDDEN,  BUT  HE  SAW  IT  AGAIN. 

8  -kstAn'‘a  ( e-stem )  old.  Like  terms  of  relationship,  the  word  is  used  in  nominal 
forms  only  with  possessives,  here  with  the  objective  possessive.  The  third  persons  mascu¬ 
line  and  non-masculine  do  not  seem  to  be  used  as  nominal  forms,  ago-  possessive  indefinite 
person. 

9  o'-  a  connective;  kale  so. 

10  yekza'3-  (e-stem)  child. 

11  -adle'(‘a)  ( a-stem )  to  be  a  grandchild,  adle'zla!  grandchild!  contains  the 
suffix  -zla  expressing  verbal  nouns,  particularly  abstract  nouns  (infinitives).  The  stem 
-die  is  preceded  by  the  incorporated  reflexive  noun  -dad-  (a-stem).  um  non-masculine 
singular  a-form;  -dad-  reflexive;  -a  stem-character  of  -dle'a. 

12  -Anlas  present,  -Anle  aorist,  -Anla'um  perfect  (probably  e-stem)  TO  leave; 
<wagAnla's  she  deserts  me;  -dad-  (a-stem)  reflexive  noun;  yon-  perfect,  third  person 
non-masculine  plural ;  za-  again. 

13  0-  connective  (see  Note  9) ;  nAn  after  a  while. 

14  Irregular  verb  to  say.  See  p.  453.  Here  indefinite  aorist. 

is  Irregular  verb  to  walk.  See  p.  454.  Here  inclusive  dual  i'dne ;  to-,  with  fol¬ 
lowing  glide  y  before  2,  thither. 

1 6  so  ji  thus  when,  so  much. 

17  ( i)-zaes  present,  -za  aorist,  -zum  perfect  (tf-stem)  to  finish;  incorporated  noun, 
o-'a'a  (a-stem)  trail,  stem  -‘a‘.  This  noun  is  incorporated  without  suffix;  -d  incorporated 
passive  noun  (a-stem)  with  following  ‘,  the  d  becomes  t ;  yo-  third  person  non-masculine 
singular. 

18  Irregular  verb  TO  walk.  See  p.  454.  Here  yaga<we'num  indefinite  perfect;  nye- 
TO  A  DEFINITE  PLACE. 

19  See  Note  3.  Here  transitive :  somebody — it  (non-masculine). 

20  Irregular  verb  to  walk.  See  p.  454;  wa' gne  they  two  (non-masculine)  went. 
The  change  from  zv  to  '  here  is  not  explained ;  nye-  to  a  definite  place  ;  to-  thither. 

21  -ya'daze  (c-stem)  to  be  pretty;  from  -ya  da  (c-stem)  body.  Here  indefinite 

person. 

22  -ande’  present,  -ande’  aorist,  andum>  perfect  (c-stem)  to  go  ahead.  Aorist 
indefinite. 

23  -dyelAns  present,  -dyelAn'  aorist,  -dyelAn’um  perfect  (a-stem)  to  become  aware. 
Aorist  indefinite.  Probably  a  passive  form,  with  incorporated  -d-  (a-stem)  expressing  the 
passive. 

24  -dadi  present,  -dadye  aorist,  -dadye'um  perfect  (o-stem),  apparently  never  with¬ 
out  incorporated  noun,  to  carry  along;  ga-lA^na!  ( astern)  song,  here  as  incorporated  stem 
- lAnn .  Indefinite  present. 

25  Stem  -'sot  grandparent.  These  terms  of  relationship  have  curiously  developed 
possessive  forms  which  are  neither  quite  nominal  nor  quite  verbal.  The  forms  for  males 
are  comparatively  simple.  When  the  term  designates  a  male  relative  younger  than  the 
speaker,  all  the  forms  are  expressed  by  the  transitive  pronouns  1  —  him  for  MY,  thou  —  HIM 


458  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


for  THY,  etc.  When  the  term  designates  a  male  relative  older  than  the  speaker,  the  forms 
for  the  first  and  second  persons  singular  are  he  —  me  for  my,  he  —  thee  for  thy.  For  the 
terms  designating  a  female  relative  older  than  the  speaker  the  possessive  forms  are  used, 
except  that  in  the  third  persons  for  lao-,  ao-,  laona-,  aona-,  etc.  (see  p.  443),  16,  6-,  Iona-, 
ona-,  appear,  and  that  the  first  person  dual  and  plural  designate  the  exclusive;  the  subjec¬ 
tive  verbal  forms  being  used  for  the  inclusive. 

The  element  -a  is  a  suffix  common  to  all  terms  of  relationship,  which,  however, 
disappears  in  vocatives. 

26  See  Note  14.  Indefinite  person,  present. 

27  A  particle. 

28  -tga'tos  present,  -tgato  aorist,  -tgatum  perfect  («-stem)  to  see;  A^zatga'to  thou 
wilt  see;  d-  hither  (see  No.  6,  p.  451)  ;  An-  future;  d-  duality,  signifying  to  look  with 
SOMEBODY. 

29  to  that;  ni  how. 

30  -yado'dAn  present,  -yadd'dAnne  aorist,  -yadddAn”um  perfect;  from  -yada  body 
(see  Notes  21,  42)  and  -dA  n  (c-stem)  to  be  that  way  (see  Note  52)  ;  to  seem,  to  appear; 
probably  with  z-  again  (see  4,  p.  449).  Indefinite. 

31  ( n ) — /'  (o-stem)  it  is  this  way.  I  have  found  the  perfect  ( n )  — ' ta'um ,  and  the 
future  («)  — tu'm'age,  but  no  aorist.  The  perfect  in  -a'um  seems  to  be  more  remote  past 
than  the  perfect  in  -«m;  -ne  is  a  usitative  ending:  ji  niyo'ta'umne  as  it  had  been, 
ji  niyo'tu'mne  as  it  used  to  be,  ji  niyo'tgAns  as  it  usually  is,  ji  niyo'tgADne  as  it  usually 
has  been. 

32  o'-nAnya'e  (^-stem)  stone;  stem  in  composition  -nAny. 

33  -dums  present,  -dum  aorist,  -du'm’um  perfect  (a-stem)  to  become.  Indefinite, 

aorist. 

34  to-  that  (see  Note  29)  ;  num  at,  at  that  time,  not  used  for  local  relations. 
g  Annum  at  this  time,  at  this  place;  ne  num  that  time,  place;  gae  num  at  a  certain 
place. 

35  anl 6  present,  -an >le  future,  -ea,  -aum  perfect  (c-stem)  to  carry  along;  non¬ 
masculine  singular;  ni  that:  the  time  carried  (went)  along  thus. 

36  -tgAn’ze  present,  -tgAnse  aorist,  -tgAnze"um  perfect  (<z-stem)  to  come  to  see; 
sago-  he  —  somebody;  dunda-  (see  Nos.  5  and  6,  pp.  450-451). 

37  Incorporated  form  of  Anskat  one,  and  oyada  body. 

38  From  dekdas  (tf-stem  with  dual  de-).  (See  No.  6,  p.  451)  to  there. 

39  -lagnas,  see  Note  3;  d-  there,  see  No.  6,  p.  451. 

40  Irregular  verb  TO  go,  see  p.  454;  here  with  z-  again. 

41  gadi  ne  again  thus;  ne'gadi  in  that  manner  again;  gadizAn  then  also; 
gadinl'e  so  then  ;  gadi  ji  accordingly. 

42  l-gwas  present,  -go  aorist,  -gnA^  perfect  (e-stem)  to  pick,  gather;  o-ya'da 
body;  sago-  he  —  some  one;  z-  again:  he  it  body  gathered  again;  i.  e.,  he  rescued  it. 

43  nine  therefore;  compare  gadin t'e  Note  41. 

44  See  Note  33.  Indefinite  perfect. 

45  0-  connective;  kdnie  ALSO;  koniez  Au>  and  that  also  (see  Note  41). 

46  ya'-  negation,  changes  l  of  third  person  masculine  to  ';  - ne*  past  (?)  ;  -yo  (i-stem) 
good,  beautiful;  -si  verbal  noun,  added  to  the  incorporated  stem  -dAnlo  (fl-stem)  FRIEND. 


NOTES  ON  THE  IROQUOIS  LANGUAGE  459 


We  find  also  the  independent  word  adADlo'zla  friendship;  lum-  ('«m  after  d-)  third  person 
masculine  plural;  d-  implies  duality. 

47  See  Note  30.  Inclusive  plural. 

48  -saks  present,  -sa'ge  aorist,  -sagum  perfect  (tf-stem)  to  search;  -gwe*  imperfect 
tense;  -si  verbal  noun,  added  to  the  incorporated  stem  -nagele  to  live  (see  Note  5)  ; 
nagla"sla  occurs  independently  as  village;  - d -  (incorporated  «-stem)  expresses  the  passive; 
lum-  third  person  masculine  plural. 

49  -dumgo’-fa  present,  -dumgo"de  aorist,  -dumgo" du’m  perfect  to  pass  by  (see  Note 
6)  ;  third  person  masculine  plural,  aorist. 

so  -tiany  (<?-stem),  see  Note  32;  -de  (o-stem)  to  stand;  yo-  third  person  non¬ 
masculine  singular. 

51  -numde  present,  -numdAnrte  aorist,  - numdan’um  perfect  (a-stem,  always  with  ob¬ 
jective  pronouns)  TO  know;  third  person  masculine  plural;  a-  subjunctive  (No.  3,  p.  449). 

52  (ni)-dAn  present,  ( ni)-dum,um  perfect  (o-stem,  always  with  objective  pronouns) 
TO  BE  THAT  way;  adla'snva  fate  (a-stem).  This  noun  is  incorporated  as  in  wagadlas'wVyo 
I  HAVE  GOOD  LUCK  (- iyo  good).  The  iv  of  this  noun  is  contracted  with  the  o-stem  of  the 
verb  into  -adlaso’ dAn.  Here  third  person  masculine  plural,  hona-  instead  of  Iona-  after  ni. 

53  -lius  present,  -liu  aorist,  perfect  (p-stem)  to  kill,  to  strike;  -d  (a-stem)  incor¬ 
porated  nominal  reciprocal ;  -sla  verbal  noun ;  -ge  postposition,  ON. 

54  -<wis  present,  ->wie  aorist  (irregular,  partly  a-stem)  to  give;  o-'sAnna’  (e-stem) 
name,  incorporated  form  -sAnn-;  -d  (a-stem)  passive;  wa-  non-masculine  singular;  dum 
see  No.  6,  p.  451. 

55  um'<wA^'/a  (o-stem)  earth;  (ni)-dAn  (o-stem)  to  be  that  way  (see  Note  52); 
first  person  plural,  objective  pronoun. 

56  Perhaps  onA^ya  stone;  -d  (o-stem)  to  stand;  -aga  part  of,  of  the  kind  of. 


TRANSLATION 

It  is  said  to  be  an  old  belief  that  people  who  went  pigeon¬ 
hunting  all  went  away  except  an  old  woman  and  a  child.  She 
and  her  grandchild  were  deserted.  After  a  while  the  child  said, 
“Let  us  go  there !”  (The  trail  was  gone  where  the  pigeon-hunters 
had  passed.) 

Then  the  two  went.  The  girl  went  ahead.  Then  she 
noticed  a  person  who  sang  while  he  was  walking  along.  It  is 
said,  she  said  to  her  grandmother,  “Don’t  look  that  way!”  She 
noticed  that  the  old  woman  was  now  good-looking.  She  appeared 
again  as  she  used  to  be  when  she  was  young.  Then  she  became 
a  stone. 


460  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


As  time  went  along,  a  man  came  to  look  for  them  from 
where  they  had  been  hunting  pigeons.  He  came  near  to  them 
and  rescued  the  child. 

Thus  the  old  woman  became  a  stone ;  and  it  is  an  old  custom, 
when  the  people  were  not  at  peace,  and  when  they  searched  for 
villages,  then,  it  is  said,  they  passed  by  the  place  where  stands 
the  stone  that  was  an  old  woman,  that  they  might  know  what 
their  fate  on  the  war-path  would  be. 

For  this  reason  our  tribe  was  given  the  name  “Oneida’' 
(“those  belonging  to  the  stone”). 

Columbia  University 
New  York 


OUTLINES  OF  WINTUN  GRAMMAR 


BY 

Roland  B.  Dixon 

THE  Wintun  Indians,  of  the  grammar  of  whose  language 
a  sketch  is  given  here,  are  one  of  the  many  groups  of 
people  speaking  distinct  languages,  living  within  the 
area  of  the  present  state  of  California.  Their  habitat  included 
almost  the  whole  of  the  western  half  of  the  Sacramento  valley, 
and  a  considerable  portion  of  the  region  of  the  upper  waters  of 
the  Trinity.  Their  language  may  be  divided  into  three  different 
dialects,  a  Northern,  Central,  and  Southern,  of  which  the  first 
is  that  chosen  for  presentation  here.  These  three  dialects  to¬ 
gether  constitute  the  Wintun  linguistic  stock,  which  is  indepen¬ 
dent  from  all  others,  so  far  as  known. 

The  phonetic  system  of  the  Wintun  may  be  represented  as 
follows : 

Surd  Sonant  Fortis  Spirant  Nasal 


Velar .  q  -  -  -  -- 

Guttural .  k  g  -  x  - 

Palatal .  -  -  -  x •  - 

Alveolar .  t  d  t‘  -  n 

Dental . tsjc  -  -  s,c  - 

Interdental  .  ...  6  -  -  -  — 

Labial .  p  b  -  -  m 

Lateral .  L  l,r,L  -  -  - 


h,y,w 

Among  the  consonants,  surds  are  more  fully  developed  than 
sonants,  and  are  more  commonly  used.  The  use  of  the  surd 


462  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


lateral  L  is  quite  common,  but  the  interdental  surd#  is  only  occa¬ 
sional.  The  r  is  usually  well  trilled,  as  in  several  of  the  neigh¬ 
boring  languages,  as  Shasta,  Karok,  Yurok,  etc.  Sometimes  d 
and  r  seem  almost  interchangeable,  and  r  in  a  few  cases  appears 
to  be  aspirated. 

The  vowels  may  be  indicated  thus : 

E 

i  e  e  a  0  u 
i  e  —  a  a  0  u 

The  sound  of  e  is  intermediate  between  e  and  a.  Diphthongs 
are  frequent,  those  most  in  use  being  oi ,  ai,  ei,  ie,  au ,  eu. 

The  great  majority  of  words  begin  with  a  consonant.  All 
consonants  except  r  and  0  occur  thus  initially,  but  there  is  a 
greater  fondness  for  surds  than  sonants.  The  most  frequently 
occurring  initial  sounds  are  q)  k,  /,  tc,  j,  p)  l.  Vowels  and  semi¬ 
vowels  are  rare  in  anlaut,  0  and  i  being  more  used  than  any 
others.  Diphthongs  are  very  rare  initially. 

In  final  sounds,  as  in  those  beginning  words,  consonants  are 
far  more  common  than  vowels.  Sonants,  except  /,  do  not  occur 
in  auslaut,  nor  do  x  or  tc.  The  most  common  terminal  sounds 
are  q,  t,  s ,  m,  l.  Vowels,  although  final  less  frequently  than  con¬ 
sonants,  are  yet  more  common  than  in  anlaut,  a  and  i  being  those 
most  in  use.  Diphthongs  are  frequent  as  final  sounds. 

The  most  common  form  of  stem  appears  to  be  that  made  up 
of  consonant-vowel-consonant,  although  the  combination  vowel- 
consonant,  and  consonant-vowel-vowel  (consonant-diphthong) 
are  also  used. 

Combinations  of  two  consonants  never  occur  initially,  and 
in  but  one  or  two  cases  finally.  The  following  seem  not  to  occur 


OUTLINES  OF  WINTUN  GRAMMAR  463 


as  the  first  member  of  consonant  combinations,  a;,  x •,  tc,  ts,Qy 
c ,  b,  L,  l,  and  q  is  rare.  As  the  second  member  of  consonant 
pairs  the  following  have  not  been  found,  q ,  ts ,  0,  w,  r.  No 
combinations  of  three  consonants  occur. 

Vocalic  harmony  shows  itself  in  the  choice  of  connecting 
vowel  between  the  adjectival  stem  and  the  usual  adjectival  suffix 
-s.  After  an  0  or  u  stem,  this  vowel  is  0  or  u  respectively;  after 
an  i  or  e  stem,  and  in  a  few  cases  with  u  stems,  it  is  e. 

Reduplication  plays  but  a  small  part  in  word  formation 
in  Wintun.  A  few  names  of  animals,  one  adjective  of  color  and 
a  few  others  show  its  use,  but  the  total  number  of  cases  is  small. 
For  grammatical  or  formal  purposes,  reduplication  is  also  of 
little  importance.  Some  verbs  have  the  stem  duplicated  or  re¬ 
duplicated  to  express  iteration  and  cognate  ideas,  and  adjectives 
sometimes  are  reduplicated  to  indicate  the  plurality  of  the  ac¬ 
companying  noun. 

Formal  affixes  in  Wintun  fall  almost  exclusively  into  the 
class  of  suffixes,  the  one  or  two  prefixes  which  have  been  noted, 
being  rare,  and  not  certainly  formal  in  character.  So  far  as 
determined,  these  suffixes  may  be  grouped  as  follows: 

Pronominal  suffixes: 

-da  1st  person. 

-ska  2d  person. 

-m,-k  3d  person. 

Suffixes  of  pronominal  stems: 

-s  1st  and  2d  person  singular  objective. 

-t  3d  person  singular  objective  and  all  persons  dual  and  plural  (variable 
vowel). 

-tu  1st  and  2d  person  singular  possessive. 


464  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


-n  3d  person  singular  possessive  and  all  persons  dual  and  plural  (variable 
vowel). 

-/  Dual  subjective  (with  vowel  change). 

-te  Plural  subjective. 

Suffixes  of  nominal  stems  : 

-m  objective. 

-n  possessive. 

-in  instrumental. 

Suffixes  of  verbal  stems: 


Temporal,  modal. 

-ibi,  -be  present. 

-wUj  -u  imperative. 

-liba,  -libo  future. 

-na  reflexive. 

-wi,  -wer  future. 

-ut  future  participle. 

-ise,  -isu  past. 

-hi  passive. 

-kila  conditional. 

-mala  similative. 

-ska  desiderative. 

-sum  present  participle. 

-we  exhortative. 

-heri  past  participle. 

-sin  durative. 

-weri  future  participle. 

-mina  negative. 

-s  forms  nouns  from  verbal  stems. 

-pura  reciprocal. 

-hura,  -horu  to  become. 

-boha  past  particle. 

-wi  interrogative. 

Suffixes  of  unknown  meaning: 

-ma 

-ta 

-tea 

-tcu 

Miscellaneous : 

-t  used  with  adjectives,  where  the  noun  is  in  the  subjective  case. 
-s  frequent  adjectival  suffix,  indicating  “having  quality  of.” 

-in  adverbial,  in  adverbs  of  direction. 


OUTLINES  OF  WINTUN  GRAMMAR  465 


It  will  be  noted  that  there  is  a  total  lack  of  nominal  locative 
suffixes,  and  verbal  suffixes  of  motion  and  instrumentality,  all  of 
which  are  developed  in  varying  degrees  among  the  neighboring 
Porno,  Shastan,  and  Maidu  stocks. 

THE  NOUN 

The  noun  itself  shows  no  modifications  for  number.  Where 
it  is  accompanied  by  an  adjective,  this  is  sometimes  redupli¬ 
cated,  where  the  noun  is  plural.  Examples  of  this  are  given  in 
speaking  of  the  adjective  further  on. 

The  Wintun  shows  a  development  of  syntactical  cases  com¬ 
parable  to  that  of  the  neighboring  stocks.  The  adjoining  Maidu 
to  the  eastward  has  a  subjective  case  indicated  by  a  suffixed  -m. 
Wintun  on  the  other  hand,  adopts  the  other  alternative,  and 
marks  the  objective  instead  of  the  subjective,  but  uses  the  same 
suffixed  -m  for  the  purpose.  In  some  instances,  this  -m  becomes 
-um  or  -yum,  and  in  two  instances,  both  inanimate  nouns,  the 
usual  objective  suffix  is  not  used  in  the  examples  secured.  The 
possessive  is  formed  by  a  suffix  -n,  - en ,  sometimes  -men. 

A  number  of  verbal  nouns,  and  one  or  two  others,  present  a 
phenomenon  not  as  yet  clear.  These  seem  to  have  a  regular  sub¬ 
jective  suffix,  -t,  which  is  replaced  by  -m  for  the  objective,  and 
-n  for  the  possessive.  In  the  case  of  the  verbal  nouns,  such  as 
tul'tcuheris ,  he  who  has  been  dug  up;  ku  ruheris,  one  who  has 
been  born;  win' is,  the  seeing;  haras' ,  the  going,  the  subjective 
is  apparently  indicated  by  - s ,  although  the  forms  with  -t  also 
occur.  Further  material  will  be  necessary  to  define  the  real 
character  of  these  suffixes.  A  few  examples  follow:  tul 


466  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


tcuheris ,  tul'tcuherit  (subj.),  tul'tcuherem  (obj),  tul'tcuheren 
(poss.)  ;  win'is ,  win  it ;  tin  is ,  tinit\  sed'et  (subj.),  sed'em 
(obj.),  sed'en  (poss.),  coyote.  The  use  of  the  suffix  -t  is  also 
seen  in  adjectives,  where  the  noun  they  accompany  is  in  the 
subjective. 

A  large  number  of  Californian  languages  show  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  a  considerable  number  of  locative  affixes.  In  this  par¬ 
ticular  Wintun  is  not  in  agreement  with  its  neighbors,  for  loca¬ 
tives  do  not  exist,  their  place  being  taken  by  particles  used  as 
pre-  or  post-positions,  which  stand  generally  as  independent 
words  but  may  be  enclitic.  The  comitative  is  expressed  by  the 
use  of  the  first  person  dual,  with  the  noun,  as  tutu  nel  wiraisida, 
I  came  with  my  mother  (lit.  mother  we  two  came).  An  in¬ 
strumental  suffix  is,  however,  in  use  rather  unexpectedly,  for 
where  locatives  are  not  so  expressed  one  does  not  look  for  any  use 
of  this  method.  The  instrumental  suffix  is  -in,1  and  its  use  may 
be  illustrated  thus: 

sonin  Liada ,  with  a  stone  I  hit  her. 
sukuyum  tcipaisida  tcusin,  dog  I  hit  with  stick. 

THE  PRONOUN 

The  personal  pronoun  has  two  forms,  an  independent  and 
an  affixed  form,  the  two  being  entirely  unlike.  The  independent 
pronoun  is  treated  exactly  as  a  noun,  having  like  the  latter  a 
subjective,  objective,  and  possessive  form.  Whereas,  in  the  noun, 
there  is  no  indication  of  number,  the  pronoun  has  varied  forms 

1  Compare  the  Maidu  instrumental  suffix  -ni.  It  is  curious  that  there  is  this  similar¬ 
ity  here,  and  in  the  use  of  the  same  suffix  -m,  in  Wintun  to  indicate  the  objective,  in  Maidu 
the  subjective. 


OUTLINES  OF  WINTUN  GRAMMAR  467 

for  singular,  dual,  and  plural.  These  various  forms  of  the  per¬ 
sonal  pronoun  are  as  follows: 


Subjective 

Objective 

Possessive 

K 

Sing. 

1 

ni 

n'ts 

neto(min) 

net  is 

(( 

2 

mi 

mis 

matu(min) 

matis 

<< 

3 

[Pi] 

[put] 

[ putun(min )  ] 

[putis] 

Dual. 

1  excl. 

nel 

nelit 

nelin(min) 

nelinis 

<< 

1  incl. 

palel 

pelit 

pelin(min) 

pelinis 

(( 

2 

mel 

malit 

malin(min) 

malinis 

it 

3 

[pel] 

[pulit] 

[pulin(min)] 

[pulinis] 

Plur. 

1  excl. 

nlte 

nelet 

nelen  {min) 

neletis 

ii 

1  incl. 

? 

pelet 

pelen  ( min ) 

pelenis 

it 

2 

mite 

malet 

malen  ( min ) 

malenis 

it 

3 

[pite] 

\pulet] 

[ pulen{min )] 

[pulenis] 

Several  points  may 

be  noted  in 

regard  to  the 

forms  here 

given.  It  is  clear  that  the  dual  and  plural  forms  are  made  regu¬ 
larly  from  the  singular  stems  «-,  m-,  and  />-.  This  regularity  of 
formation  is  also  found  in  several  other  Californian  languages, 
as  in  Maidu,  Washo,  Yokuts,  etc.  In  the  subjective,  the  dual 
is  formed  by  a  vowel  change,  together  with  the  addition  of  a 
suffix.  /,  the  plural  by  the  suffix  -te.  In  the  objective  and  posses¬ 
sive,  the  differentiation  by  means  of  a  vowel  change  holds  for 
both  dual  and  plural,  which  are  themselves  differentiated  by  a 
similar  change  of  i  to  e  in  the  suffix.  Further,  in  the  formation 
of  the  objective,  a  different  method  is  followed  in  the  first  and 
second  persons  singular  than  elsewhere,  a  feature  found  equally 
in  the  Maidu.  The  nominal  objective  suffix  -m  is  not  used  at  all. 
Similarly  in  the  possessive,  the  first  and  second  persons  singular 
do  not  take  the  nominal  possessive  -w,  as  do  the  other  forms. 
The  second  column  under  possessive  is  the  predicative  form, 
mine,  yours,  his,  etc.  It  will  be  seen  that  here  there  is  through¬ 
out  a  regular  use  of  the  suffix  -is,  which  is  probably  the  same  as 
the  -s  of  the  first  and  second  persons  singular  objective;  sing- 


468  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


ular,  dual,  and  plural  are  however  in  other  respects  not  formed 
regularly.  Strictly  speaking,  there  is  no  third  person  in  the 
personal  pronoun,  the  forms  given  in  brackets  being  in  reality 
demonstrative.  The  various  forms  are  however  so  regular,  and 
the  demonstrative  is  used  so  consistently  as  equivalent  to  the 
third  person,  that  it  has  been  included  here  for  convenience. 
This  regularity  both  of  form  and  usage  of  the  demonstrative  is 
very  similar  to  the  practice  in  Maidu. 

The  personal  pronouns  have  an  intensive  and  reflexive  form. 
The  former  is  made  by  suffixing  - hiuni ,  as:  ni-hiuni ,  I  myself; 
mi-hiuni,  you  yourself,  you  only.  The  latter  by  -'a,  or  -ya,  as: 
nPa,  ni-ya ,  myself;  nePa ,  ourselves. 

The  second  or  affixed  form  of  the  personal  pronoun  differs, 
as  has  been  said,  entirely  from  the  independent.  It  is  invariably 
suffixed  to  the  verb,  following  the  tense  and  modal  suffixes,  and 
never  occurs  independently.  It  is  also  invariable  as  regards  num¬ 
ber  and  case.  These  suffixes  are  as  follows:  first  person  -da, 
second  person  - sken ,  third  person  -m,  -k.  This  form  of  the  per¬ 
sonal  pronoun  shows  in  its  use  some  similarity  to  the  secondary 
form  of  the  personal  pronoun  in  Maidu.  There,  as  here,  this 
form  seems  to  be  unrelated  to  the  independent  pronoun,  but  in 
Maidu  it  may  stand  independently  apart  from  the  verbal  stem. 
In  Maidu  also,  it  is  varied  for  number,  but  like  this  Wintun 
form,  does  not  take  the  case  endings  of  the  regular  independent 
pronoun. 

Only  two  demonstratives  have  been  found,  eu  this,  and  pi 
that.  The  demonstrative  is  treated  as  a  noun,  just  as  the  personal 
pronoun,  and  the  various  forms  of  pi  have  been  given  in  the 
previous  paradigm.  For  eu,  no  complete  series  of  forms  has  been 


OUTLINES  OF  WINTUN  GRAMMAR  469 


found,  but  the  objective  occurs  as  ewet  in  such  a  sentence  as  ewet 
yuptcu ,  shoot  this  one. 

The  interrogative  pronouns  are  derived  from  two  stems, 
he-  and  pe-)  and,  in  part  at  least,  have  regular  case  forms  for 
subjective,  objective,  and  possessive,  and  also  instrumental. 

heket ,  who. 

liekem,  whom. 

heketun,  heketmen ,  whose. 

pe,  what. 

pehin ,  with  what. 

heke,  where. 

hestaba,  henoni,  why. 

hesen,  henoktin,  when. 

his  am,  how  far,  many. 

THE  VERB 

The  Wintun  verb  is  simple  compared  to  that  of  several 
California  languages,  in  that  it  has  but  two  classes  of  affixes, 
personal  pronominal  suffixes,  and  modal-temporal  suffixes.  In 
the  conjugation  of  the  verb,  both  the  independent  and  the  suf¬ 
fixed  forms  of  the  personal  pronoun  are  as  a  rule,  used  together, 
but  the  former  may  in  some  cases  be  omitted,  where  the  meaning 
is  perfectly  clear  without  it.  The  pronominal  suffixes  have  al¬ 
ready  been  given.  They  are  added  to  the  temporal  or  modal 
suffixes  following  the  verbal  stem,  except  in  the  case  of  the  nega¬ 
tive,  where  the  pronominal  suffixes  are  added  to  the  negative 
particle  eleu  instead  of  to  the  verb  itself. 

Temporal  suffixes  are,  so  far  as  known,  four  in  number, 
-ibi,  -be  indicating  incompleted  action,  present;  - liba ,  -libo  indi¬ 
cating  indefinite  future;  - wira ,  -wir,  -wi  indicating  immediate 


470 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


future;  and  -ise,  -isu  indicating  completed  action,  past.  These 
temporal  suffixes  are  added  directly  to  the  verbal  stem.  Modal 
suffixes  include  a  negative,  conditional,  desiderative,  continua- 
tive,  imperative,  exhortative,  and  various  participial  forms.  The 
following  paradigm  will  illustrate  the  uses  of  these  various  suf¬ 
fixes  : 


Present 

singular 

1.  ni  tcunaibida 

2.  mi  tcunabesken 

3.  pi  tcunabem 

DUAL 

1.  nel  tcunaibida 

2.  mel  tcunabesken 

3.  pel  tcunabem 


Future 

ni  tconlibada 
mi  tconlibosken 
pi  tcunalibom 


nel  tconlibada 
mel  tconlibosken 
pel  tcunalibom 


ni  tcunawira 
mi  tcunawerisken 
pi  tcunawirabem 


nel  tcunawira 
mel  tcunawerisken 
pel  tcunawirabem 


ni  tcunaisida 
mi  tcunaisusken 
pi  tcunaisuk 


nel  tcunaisida 
mel  tcunaisusken 
pel  tcunaisuk 


PLURAL 

1.  nite  tcunaibida  nite  tconlibada  nite 

2.  mite  tcunabesken  mite  tconlibosken  mite 

3.  plte  tcunabem  plte  tcunalibom  pite 

eleuibida  tconmina,  I  am  not  dancing. 
ni  hara-kila,  if  I  go. 
ni  hara-ska-da,  I  want  to  go. 
ni  tcuna-biya-ibi-da,  I  continue  dancing. 
net  xina-sin,  while  I  was  asleep. 
ponort-u,  run!  tca-wu,  sing! 
ponort-e,  let  us  run ;  tca-we,  let  us  sing ; 
ba-buha,  after  having  eaten. 
ba-mala-ibi-da ,  I  make  believe  eat. 


tcunawira  nite  tcunaisida 
tcunawerisken  mite  tcunaisusken 
tcunazuirabem  plte  tcunaisuk 


ba-we,  let  us  eat. 


OUTLINES  OF  WINTUN  GRAMMAR  471 


ku'ru-heri-s,  one  who  has  been  born. 
hard' -w er i-s,  the  going  away  (future). 
tin' is,  word,  that  which  is  spoken. 
ku'te-horu-ma,  become  small 
bird’  ibe-wi,  is  he  hungry. 

While  the  above  paradigm  illustrates  what  seems  to  be  the 
usual  practice,  the  following  variations  may  be  noted:  In  the 
first  person,  the  temporal  suffix  of  the  present  tense  is  often 
omitted,  as  ni  tcuna-da.  The  order  here  shown,  of  subject-verb, 
is  sometimes  reversed,  so  that  we  have:  timada  ni ,  I  am  cold; 
timabesken  mi ,  you  are  cold,  etc.  Furthermore,  in  the  sub-dia¬ 
lect  spoken  on  the  upper  Sacramento  river,  the  personal  pronouns 
of  the  dual  and  plural  are  often  placed  immediately  following 
the  verbal  stem,  the  temporal  suffix  with  the  affixed  form  of  the 
pronoun,  following,  as:  bira-nel-ibi-da ,  we  two  are  hungry; 
tima-pel-isu-k ,  they  two  were  cold;  bira-nite-ibi-da ,  we  are 
hungry.  Here  also  there  is  a  different  form  of  the  second  per¬ 
son  dual,  which  is  lei  instead  of  mel ,  and  we  thus  have:  tima-be- 
sken  lei  or  tima-lel-be-sken ,  ye  two  are  cold.  This  method  of 
treating  the  pronominal  element  is  technically  incorporation, 
but  the  essential  separateness  of  the  pronoun  in  spite  of  its  posi¬ 
tion  between  the  verbal  stem  and  temporal  suffix  is  shown  by  the 
tendency  in  speaking  to  make  practically  two  words  of  such  a 
form,  as  bira  nel-ibi-da ,  tima  lel-be-sken. 

The  transitive  verb  differs  from  the  intransitive  only  in  the 
use  of  the  independent  objective  pronoun,  or  a  noun  in  the  ob¬ 
jective  case,  as:  ni  mis  wini-da ,  I  thee  see;  malet  wini-da ,  ye  all 
I  see;  mi  nis  wina-be-sken ,  you  me  see;  piya  mis  wina-bem ,  he 
thee  sees.  The  usual  order  is  subject-object-verb,  but  subject- 


472 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


verb-object,  and  verb-subject-object  sometimes  occur.  In  the 
Sacramento  sub-dialect  the  incorporative  tendency  is  again 
shown  by  forms  like:  wini-mis-isi-da ,  see  thee  did  I.  The  use 
of  the  reflexive  reciprocal,  and  passive  is  shown  in  the  following 
examples:  pi-hiuni  tcona-bem ,  himself  he  kicks;  raktsu-na-da 
ril'd,  I  hit  myself;  nel  tcon-pura-ibi-da,  we  two  kick  each  other; 
yuptca-da ,  I  shoot;  yuptcu-lii-da ,  I  am  shot. 

THE  ADJECTIVE 

The  adjective  usually  precedes  the  noun,  although  in  some 
cases  it  certainly  follows.  The  adjective  may  take  the  regular 
temporal  suffixes  of  the  verb,  as:  kelas  tens ,  long  stick;  kela-be 
eu  tcus ,  this  stick  is  long.  Adjectives  are  varied  for  number  in 
two  ways.  Reduplication  appears  to  be  the  most  common,  as: 
yiLmaSj  yihyihmas ,  heavy;  hosopas,  hosophosopas ,  light.  Ad¬ 
jectives  are  varied  further,  for  case,  taking  the  regular  objective 
-m  used  with  nouns,  the  adjective  agreeing  thus  with  its  noun, 
as:  kiemila  sukuyum  bohe'mum  Lo'marken ,  the  old  man  dog 
large  killed;  olel'  yapaitu  ketem  yap'aiturn  ewequ'na ,  above¬ 
person  one  person  hated.  In  a  number  of  cases,  adjectives  ac¬ 
companying  nouns  in  the  subjective  case  take  a  suffixed  - 1 ,  as 
kutet  te'dit  pom'i/a  wat'sa ,  small  red  ground-baby  cried;  tcalit' 
udn'tii  puiken  hard',  good  men  towards  the  east  go;  ketet'  ya- 
paitu  harawiraibe,  one  person  will  go. 

LOCATIVE  PARTICLES 

Locative  ideas  are  expressed  in  Wintun  by  a  series  of  par¬ 
ticles,  which  generally  precede  the  noun  and  which  are,  as  a 


OUTLINES  OF  WINTUN  GRAMMAR  473 


rule,  independent.  In  some  cases  however  they  are  used  as  post¬ 
positions,  and  then  become  enclitic.  For  the  most  part  they  are 
monosyllabic,  and  the  few  polysyllabic  forms  are  evidently  com¬ 
pound.  The  following  are  the  forms  already  noted: 


ol,  up 
ken,  down 
el,  in,  into 
pat,  out 
tup,  away 


xan,  away  from 
xun,  together 
yel,  backwards 
panti ,  on,  upon 
kenti,  under 


qaiwe,  across 
lamer  a,  around 
zuaiti,  through 


Sometimes  the  locative  particle  is  repeated  again  after  the 
verb,  and  in  some  cases  two  particles  may  be  used  together. 
The  following  examples  will  illustrate  the  use  of  these  forms: 

suku  el  qewen  biya,  the  dog  in  the  house  is 
neto  taki  basmali  panti  biya,  my  hat  table  on  is 
ol  ponortu,  run  up 
pat  ponortu,  run  out 

son  mem-ken  biya  el,  stone  water-under  is  in  (stone  is  in  river) 


THE  NUMERAL 

The  numeral  system  of  the  Wintun  is  quinary  up  to  twenty, 
above  which  the  method  alternates  between  decimal  and  vigesi¬ 
mal,  30,  50,  70,  and  90  being  respectively  three-tens,  five-tens, 
etc.,  whereas  40,  60,  and  80  are  two-persons,  three-persons,  four- 
persons,  respectively.  The  full  series  of  numerals  has  been  given 
and  discussed  elsewhere.1 


1  American  Anthropologist,  N.  s.  ix,  p.  675. 


474 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  following  short  example  of  a  text  will  serve  to  illus¬ 
trate  a  part  of  the  features  discussed  above: 

THE  FLOOD 


Po 

m  yel'hura 1  tsa'rawa2 

boha' 3  wai. 

qe'wel 

world  becoming  spoiled  Coyote 

lived  north. 

house 

win  tun 

qe'wel  4 

boha  . 

ketet'  5 

tsa'rawa  pi 6 

ketet' 

Indian 

house 

lived. 

one 

Coyote  that 

on 

el' eu  7 

he' ken  8 

win'tu 

suk'mina.9  tsa'rawa 

tawana 

not 

anywhere’s 

people 

were-not. 

Coyote 

lonely 

watsa'  10  pu'rus 

watsa 

mut'ut  11  tsa'rawa 

el'  eu 

cried. 

heart 

cried. 

The  hearing  Coyote 

not 

heken 

win'tu 

su'ki}2 

pi 

ketet'  bd'ha. 

mut'e  13 

anywhere 

s  people 

were. 

That 

one  lived. 

He  heard 

ki'yem 

14  ki'yem  tin. 

sed'et 15 

el'  eu  kiyem'  tin. 

wisely 

wisely 

speaking. 

Coyote 

not  wisely 

speaking. 

eu'win 

16  bi'ya  17 

yai  tsa'rawa 

kiyem'  tin. 

tsa'rawa 

Here 

was 

spine 

Coyote 

wisely  speaking. 

Coyote 

tin  “He'nuni 18 

pom 

hi'ma  19 

ib'ewi  uniP  2( 

’  uPom 

said 

“Why 

world 

tomorrow 

is  it  thus.” 

“World 

mem 

tsuhawira 

Uni.21  wai'da 22  mem  hina  uni  qol'tcin 23 

water 

will  rise 

thus.  In  the  north  water  comes  thus 

sky’s 

nor'  el 

pu'ta.  mem  wai'ken 24 

hard'  kel el'  25 

hard'. 

south-in 

boils  up.  Water  to  the  north 

goes  far 

goes. 

qol'tci 

pom' in  26 

Lu'tci 

hard' . 

mem  puta'P 

sed'et 

Sky 

downward 

? 

goes. 

Water  boils  up.” 

Coyote 

el'  eu 

tip'na  eu'win  tip'na  yai 

sed'en 27  yai'taptsus. 

not 

knew 

here,  knew  spine 

:  Coyote’s  guardian. 

yai'taptsus  tin. 

llEl'euwibes'ken 

28  pe 29  tip'nomina. 

Guardian  spoke 

“Did 

you  not 

anything  know-not. 

OUTLINES  OF  WINTUN  GRAMMAR  475 


yap'paitii  el'in30  kudaibe  uni 31 

A  person  everywhere  goes  thus 

pan'ti 35  ku  dawiraibe”  36 

upon  will  go.” 


qol'tsa32  o/33  kulun  34 

sky  up  edge’s 


NOTES 


1  yel'hura,  apparently  from  yel,  a  particle  meaning  backward,  in  the  opposite  direction, 
and  a  suffix  variously  appearing  as  -hura,  -horu,  -hurti,  meaning  to  become,  to  grow,  as 
ku'tehoruma,  it  became  small.  Thus  here  “becoming  reversed,  turned  the  wrong  way, 
spoiled.” 

2  tsa’ravja,  coyote.  The  usual  term  is  sed'et,  which  appears  below. 

3  boha  ,  apparently  a  di-syllabic  stem,  meaning  to  live  in,  occupy. 

4  win’tunqe'vjel,  Indian-house.  The  usual  method  of  forming  a  compound  noun,  by 
simple  juxtaposition. 

5  ketet' ,  one.  With  adjectives  and  numeral  adjectives,  where  the  noun  which  it  ac¬ 
companies  is  in  the  subjective  case,  this  suffix  -t  is  usually  employed.  Where  the  noun  is 
in  the  objective,  the  adjective  agrees,  as  olel'  ya'paitu  ketem  yapai’tum  'wequna,  above¬ 
person  one  people  hated. 

6  pi  the  regular  demonstrative. 

7  el' eu  the  negative  particle.  In  the  negative  conjugation  it  takes  the  pronominal 
suffix  instead  of  the  verbal  stem. 

8  he'ken ,  apparently  the  possessive  form  from  heke,  where,  so  that  heken  zvin'tu  might 
be  translated  “anywhere’s  people”,  those  belonging  to  any  place. 

9  suk'mina,  are  not.  Apparently  from  a  verbal  stem  suk-,  to  be,  exist,  with  the  regular 

negative  suffix  -mina.  It  is  identical  with  the  suffix  of  the  past  tense  for  the  third  person, 
but  apparently  has  no  connection  directly  with  it,  as  we  find  a  future  and  future  condi¬ 
tional  form,  suk'libom  it  shall  be;  suk'ikila,  if  there  shall  be. 

10  nuatsa' ,  cried.  Probably  separable  into  a  stem  wa-  with  the  suffix  -tea,  -tsa,  widely 
used  in  forming  verbs,  but  as  yet  of  uncertain  meaning.  Other  examples  of  its  use  are  seen 
in  'wuk'tca,  nod ;  puh'tca,  blow ;  tep'tca,  be  born,  created. 

11  mut'ut,  the  hearing.  From  the  stem  mut-,  mute-,  to  hear.  The  suffix  -t,  referred 
to  in  note  5,  seems  to  be  used  with  verbal  stems  to  form  nominal  forms,  expressing  the 
action  of  the  verb. 

12  su'ki,  was. 

!3  mut' e,  he  heard.  The  suffix  -bem  is  omitted. 

14  ki'yem,  wisely,  cunningly.  Probably  closely  connected  with  kies ,  old;  kiemila,  old 
man.  The  duplication  seems  to  be  to  give  the  idea  of  iteration,  repeated  speaking. 

18  sed'et,  coyote.  This  is  the  usual  term,  although  tsa'ravia  is  occasionally  employed. 

The  final  -t  here  is  an  instance  of  the  apparent  use,  with  some  nouns,  of  this  -t  as  a  sub¬ 
jective  suffix.  See  note  5. 

16  eu’nuin,  here.  From  eu,  the  demonstrative  pronoun,  “this,”  and  the  adverbial  suffix 
-in,  other  examples  of  which  are  seen  in  pom' in  downward,  from  pom  earth;  xin'in  fore¬ 
ward;  tca'nin  sideways. 


476  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


*7  bi'ya,  was.  A  somewhat  perplexing  form,  used  apparently  as  equivalent  to  suk- 
(see  note  9),  meaning  to  be,  exist.  As  the  latter  seems  related  to  the  suffix  of  the  past 
tense,  so  this  would  seem  to  be  connected  with  that  of  the  present,  ibi,  ibe. 

18  hen  uni,  why.  Formed  from  the  same  stem  he-  as  the  other  interrogatives. 

19  hima ,  tomorrow.  Probably  for  hi' na  to  come,  arrive.  Hinaibewi  is  the  third  per¬ 
son  singular  interrogative,  “comes  it,  does  it  arrive.” 

20  uni,  thus,  so.  The  usage  and  meaning  of  this  is  still  uncertain.  In  some  cases  it  is 
clear,  as  u'ni  tin  poqai'la,  thus  spoke  the  old  woman;  ket' et  yapaitu  uni  fin,  one  person 
thus  spoke. 

21  tsuhawira,  will  rise.  The  suffix  -nuira  indicates  the  immediate  future. 

22  nvai'da,  north  or  in  the  north.  The  suffix  -da  seems  to  be  used  here  with  a  general 
locative  meaning.  It  has  not  been  found  with  nouns,  but  occurs  in  such  forms  as  len  da, 
long  ago;  hdn'da,  very  long  ago. 

23  qol'tcin,  sky’s.  The  possessive  suffix  -n  makes  the  literal  meaning  here  “sky’s  south 
in”  i.  e.  in  the  south  part  of  the  sky. 

24  nvai'ken,  down  north.  “Down”  here  in  the  sense  of  toward. 

25  kelel',  far.  Apparently  from  kel,  the  stem  seen  also  in  kel'as,  long,  and  the  particle 
el,  in. 

26  pom'in,  downward.  See  note  16. 

z7  sed’en,  coyote’s.  The  possessive  form.  See  note  15. 

28  el'eu’ivibesken,  did  you  not.  The  pronominal  suffix  added  to  the  negative,  el'eu  in¬ 
stead  of  to  the  verbal  stem,  which  takes  the  suffix  of  negation,  -mina.  The  suffix  -<wi  is 
apparently  the  interrogative. 

29  pe,  what,  i.  e.  in  the  sense  of  “anything.” 

30  el'in,  everywhere,  far  and  wide.  Probably  from  the  particle  el,  in,  and  the  adverbial 
suffix  in. 

31  ku'daibe,  goes,  travels. 

32  qol'tsa,  sky.  A  variant  from  the  same  stem,  qol ,  as  qol'tci. 

33  ol,  up.  Compare  olel,  above [ol-el,  up-in)  ;  olel'as,  high. 

34  kulun',  edge’s.  From  kulu  edge. 

35  panti,  upon.  From  the  particle  pan,  on.  Cf.  ken-ti,  under;  <wai-ti,  through. 

36  ku  da'wira'ibe,  will  go. 


Harvard  University 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts 


A  NEW  SIOUAN  DIALECT 


BY 

John  R.  Swanton 

THE  great  Siouan  linguistic  stock  has  been  recognized 
from  the  earliest  period  of  ethnological  investigation  in 
North  America,  and  indeed  its  existence  was  known  to 
French  missionaries  before  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  cen¬ 
tury,  but  until  comparatively  recent  times  it  was  supposed  to  be 
confined  to  a  section  of  country  lying  for  the  most  part  westward 
of  the  Mississippi  and  embracing  the  Dakota  (including  the  As- 
siniboin),  Crow,  Hidatsa,  Mandan,  Omaha,  Ponca,  Kansa, 
Osage,  Quapaw,  Iowa,  Oto,  and  Missouri  tribes,  and,  somewhat 
more  easterly,  the  Winnebago.  In  1 88 1 ,  however,  the  late  Dr 
Gatschet  astonished  American  ethnologists  by  demonstrating 
that  the  Catawba  of  South  Carolina  belonged  to  this  stock  also, 
and  in  1883  Horatio  Hale  showed  that  the  Tutelo,  anciently  on 
the  headwaters  of  the  Dan,  were  also  Siouan.  As  a  result  of  their 
labors  and  those  of  Mr  Mooney  it  was  subsequently  shown  that  a 
large  number  of  tribes  in  the  same  section  were  of  Siouan  con¬ 
nection,  though  there  are  some  whose  position  is  still  in  doubt, 
owing  to  the  early  and  rapid  extinction  of  the  Indians  in  that 
area.  In  1886  Gatschet,  during  an  examination  of  the  Indian 
tribes  of  Louisiana,  made  a  further  surprising  discovery  to  the 
effect  that  a  dialect  of  the  same  group  was  spoken  by  the  Biloxi, 
the  first  tribe  to  greet  Iberville  on  his  expedition  of  1699,  which 


478  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


resulted  in  the  founding  of  Louisiana,  and  that  which  gave  its 
name  to  Louisiana’s  first  capitals,  old  and  new  Biloxi.  This  had 
been  the  only  Siouan  tribe  discovered  in  Louisiana  or  Missis¬ 
sippi  until  November  of  last  year,  when  the  writer  had  the  good 
fortune  to  find  and  make  partial  record  of  still  another,  a  dialect 
spoken  by  a  tribe  of  Indians  formerly  living  on  the  lower  Yazoo, 
and  so  small  in  the  very  earliest  times  of  which  we  have  any 
record,  that  the  survival  of  the  language  in  any  form  whatever 
is  little  short  of  marvelous. 

The  first  mention  of  this  tribe,  so  far  as  the  writer  is  aware, 
is  in  Iberville’s  journal  of  his  first  expedition  to  Louisiana,  in 
1699.  In  that  year  he  himself  did  nor  go  higher  up  the  Missis¬ 
sippi  than  the  mouth  of  Red  river,  but  he  interviewed  a  Taensa 
Indian  whom  he  met  in  the  Houma  village,  regarding  the  tribes 
beyond,  and  was  told  that  “on  the  river  of  the  Chicachas”  (i.  e., 
the  Yazoo)  were  “seven  villages,  which  are  the  Tonicas,  Ouispe, 
Opocoulas,  Taposa,  Chaquesauma,  Outapa,  Thysia.”  1  The  first 
three  of  these  are  the  only  ones  located  on  the  lower  Yazoo;  the 
others,  except  the  Thysia,  the  position  of  which  is  uncertain, 
being  a  considerable  distance  higher  up,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Chickasaw.  The  Tunica  language  has  been  known  to  us 
since  Gatschet  recorded  it  in  1885-86,  and  we  are  here  concerned 
only  with  the  “Ouispe”  and  “Opocoulas.”  Penicaut,  in  chron¬ 
icling  Le  Sueur’s  ascent  of  the  Mississippi  in  1700,  says,  “Ascend¬ 
ing  this  river  four  leagues  one  finds  on  the  right  the  villages 
where  six  nations  of  savages  live  called  the  Yasoux,  the  Offogou- 
las,  the  Tonicas,  the  Coroas,  the  Ouitoupas  and  the  Oussipes.”  2 
Later  in  the  same  year  the  Jesuit  Gravier  visited  the  lower  Yazoo 


1  Margry,  Decouvertes ,  iv,  p.  180. 

2  Ibid.,  V,  p.  401. 


A  NEW  SIOUAN  DIALECT 


479 


tribes  in  order  to  see  Davion,  who  had  established  himself  as 
missionary  among  the  Tunica,  and  was  reported  to  be  dangerous¬ 
ly  ill.  He  says,  “There  are  three  different  languages  in  his  mis¬ 
sion,  the  Jakou  (i.  e.,  Yazoo)  of  30  cabins,  the  Ounspik  of  10  or 
12  cabins,  and  the  Toumika  (Tunica)  who  are  in  seven  hamlets, 
and  who  comprise  in  all  50  or  60  small  cabins.”  1  In  December, 
1721,  Father  Charlevoix  learned  of  “a  village  of  Yasous  mixed 
with  Curoas  and  Ofogoulas,  which  may  have  been  at  most  two 
hundred  men  fit  to  bear  arms.”  2  La  Harpe  entered  the  Yazoo, 
January  26,  1722,  and  describes  the  situation  of  the  nearer  tribes 
thus:  “The  river  of  the  Yasous  runs  from  its  mouth  north- 
northeast  to  Fort  St.  Peter,  then  north-a-quarter-northwest  half 
a  league,  and  turning  back  by  the  north  until  it  is  east-a-quarter- 
northeast  another  half  league,  as  far  as  the  low  stone  bluffs  on 
which  are  situated  settlements  of  the  Yasons,  Courois,  Offogoula 
and  Onspee  nations;  their  cabins  are  dispersed  by  cantons,  the 
greater  part  situated  on  artificial  mounds  between  the  valleys, 
which  leads  one  to  suppose  that  anciently  these  nations  were 
numerous.  Now  they  are  reduced  to  about  two  hundred  and 
fifty  persons.”  3  Father  Poisson,  ascending  to  the  Quapaw  in 
1727,  mentions  “three  villages  in  which  three  different  languages 
are  spoken,”  4  but  professes  no  further  knowledge  regarding 
them.  Du  Pratz,  in  his  general  survey  of  Louisiana  tribes 
founded  on  information  obtained  between  the  years  1718  and 
1794,  assigns  about  a  hundred  cabins  to  the  Yazoo,  about  forty  to 
the  Koroa,  and  about  sixty  to  the  “Oufe  Ogoulas,  or  the  Nation 

1  Shea,  Early  Voyages  on  the  Mississippi ,  p.  133.  Also  Jesuit  Relations ,  Thwaites 
ed.,  lxv,  p.  129. 

2  French,  Hist.  Coll.  La.,  part  3,  pp.  138-139,  1851. 

3  La  Harpe,  Etablissement  des  Francois  a  la  Louisiane,  pp.  310-311,  1831. 

4  Jesuit  Relations,  Thwaites  ed.,  lxvii,  p.  317. 


480  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


of  the  Dog,”  1  which  would  appear  to  be  a  very  considerable 
overestimate. 

In  1729,  on  the  outbreak  of  the  Natchez  war,  the  Yazoo  and 
Koroa  slew  their  missionary,  and  destroyed  the  French  post 
which  had  been  established  among  them.  “The  Offogoulas,” 
says  Charlevoix,  “were  then  on  a  hunt;  on  their  return  they  were 
strongly  urged  to  enter  the  plot;  but  they  steadily  refused,  and 
withdrew  to  the  Tonicas,  whom  they  knew  to  be  of  all  the  In¬ 
dians  the  most  inviolably  attached  to  the  French.”  2  The  earlier 
association  which  we  know  to  have  existed  between  these  two 
tribes  may  also  be  assigned  as  a  probable  cause  of  their  asso¬ 
ciation  with  them  at  that  period.  During  the  subsequent  hos¬ 
tilities  this  tribe  continued  as  firm  friends  and  efficient  allies  of 
the  French.  De  Kerlerec  in  1758  reported  that  “for  some  years 
Indian  families  of  the  Offogoula  nation,  the  remains  of  a  fairly 
numerous  nation  which  the  Chikachas  have  not  ceased  to  perse¬ 
cute,  have  established  themselves  [at  Natchez] ;  they  are  housed 
under  the  cannon  of  the  fort,  and  in  war  expeditions  they  join 
our  troops  in  order  to  pursue  our  enemies.”  3  The  number  of 
their  warriors  was  at  that  time  reduced  to  fifteen.  In  1784  ac¬ 
cording  to  Hutchins,  they  had  a  small  village  of  about  a  dozen 
warriors  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  eight  miles  above 
Point  Coupee;  but  it  is  evident  that  Baudry  des  Lozieres  is  only 
recalling  earlier  conditions  when  at  about  the  same  period  he 
places  them  in  their  old  situation  along  with  the  Koroa  and 
Yazoo. 4 

1  Du  Pratz,  Histoire  de  la  Louisiane,  n,  pp.  225-226,  1758. 

2  Shea,  Charlevoix’s  History  of  New  France,  vi,  p.  86,  1872. 

3  Report  of  the  Fifteenth  Session  of  the  International  Congress  of  Americanists,  I, 

P-  74- 

4  Voyage  a  la  Louisiane,  p.  251,  1802. 


A  NEW  SIOUAN  DIALECT 


481 


Hutchins’s  notice  appears  to  be  the  last  record  of  this  tribe 
in  print,  and  when  one  considers  that  they  then  numbered  only 
“about  a  dozen  warriors,”  and  that  a  hundred  and  twenty-five 
years  have  elapsed  since  the  time  when  he  wrote,  any  likelihood 
of  discovering  a  survivor  would  appear  to  be  of  the  slenderest. 

During  his  visit  to  the  remnant  of  Tunica  Indians  living 
near  Marksville,  La.,  in  May,  1907,  the  writer  inquired  care¬ 
fully  for  the  tribes  known  to  have  been  associated  with  them  at 
various  periods  of  their  history,  and  especially  for  the  Ofogoula, 
but  without  success.  Finally,  rather  as  a  matter  of  completeness 
than  with  the  slightest  expectation  of  any  practical  results,  he 
inquired  for  the  tribe  mentioned  but  four  times  in  early  narra¬ 
tives  in  the  places  already  cited,  as  Ouispe,  Oussipes,  Ounspik, 
and  Onspes.  To  his  surprise  the  Tunica  chief  answered, 
“U'shpi,  yes.  There  used  to  be  numbers  of  them  around  here 
about  forty  years  ago,  but  they  are  all  gone.”  To  the  further 
inquiry  whether  he  could  recall  any  words  of  the  language,  he 
at  first  replied  in  the  negative,  but  afterward  remembered  one, 
feskAtca'ki ,  which  he  stated  was  the  word  for  “opossum.” 

On  the  strength  of  this  information  the  writer  at  once  came 
to  two  conclusions,  first,  that  U'shpi  was  the  Tunica  term  for  the 
Ofogoula,  and,  second,  that  the  language  spoken  by  them  was  a 
dialect  of  Muskhogean.  His  first  determination  was  founded 
on  the  early  disappearance  of  the  term  U'shpi  from  print,  the 
ignorance  of  his  informant  regarding  any  tribe  known  as  Ofo¬ 
goula,  and  the  closer  and  later  association  of  the  Tunica  with 
that  tribe  than  with  any  other  not  otherwise  accounted  for.  His 
second  conclusion  was  based,  first,  on  Du  Pratz’s  statement  that 
the  true  name  of  the  tribe  was  “Oufe  Ogoulas”  and  that  it  signi- 


482  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


fled  “Dog  people”  in  Mobilian,  as  in  fact  the  form  that  he  gives 
does,  from  Du  Pratz’s  further  statement  that  the  language  of 
these  people  lacked  an  r,  from  which  Du  Pratz  himself  as¬ 
sumed  that  it  was  affiliated  with  Chickasaw,  and  from  the 
presence  of  an  initial  f  in  the  word  given  him  by  his  Tunica 
informant,  /  being  absent  or  uncommon  in  any  non-Muskhogean 
languages  of  the  lower  Mississippi  hitherto  discovered,  and  un¬ 
known  as  an  initial  sound  in  any  of  them. 

In  November  of  the  year  just  past,  the  writer  was  again  in 
Marksville  for  the  purpose  of  correcting  and  amplifying  the 
Tunica  linguistic  material  collected  by  Dr  Gatschet  more  than 
twenty  years  ago.  On  his  first  visit  to  the  village  he  found  the 
Tunica  chief  in  the  company  of  another  old  Indian,  neither  of 
whom  could  speak  English;  and,  as  the  writer  is  not  possessed  of 
a  conversational  knowledge  of  French,  an  Indian  woman  named 
Rosa  Pierrette  was  called  in  from  a  neighboring  house  as  inter¬ 
preter.  In  the  course  of  the  conversation  which  followed,  this 
woman  stated  that  the  Tunica  are  forgetting  their  language,  be¬ 
cause  the  young  people  all  learn  French  or  English,  and  there 
are  few  older  ones  to  converse  together.  Incidentally  she  re¬ 
marked  that  she  and  her  husband  did  not  use  it,  because,  though 
both  are  Indian,  their  languages  differ.  On  being  questioned 
as  to  the  name  of  her  language,  she  answered,  with  a  little  hesi¬ 
tation,  “Ofo.”  Immediately  afterward,  however,  her  husband, 
who  had  accompanied  her,  said,  “Osage.”  Although  the  writer 
did  not  remember  to  have  heard  of  any  Osage  so  far  south  as 
middle  Louisiana,  he  accepted  this  latter  statement  as  probably 
correct,  but  having  a  few  minutes’  leisure,  obtained  several  words 
from  her  which  she  gave  readily.  These  showed  that  the  lan- 


A  NEW  SIOUAN  DIALECT 


483 


guage  was  indeed  Siouan;  but  the  presence  of  an  f  was  puzzling. 
Nevertheless,  this  circumstance  was  accepted  as  an  individual 
peculiarity  in  speech,  and  the  writer  proceeded  to  make  his 
arrangements  for  studying  Tunica.  A  day  or  two  later,  how¬ 
ever,  when  going  over  tribal  names  with  the  old  chief,  “U'shpi” 
was  encountered,  and  the  latter  remarked  that  the  woman  who 
had  acted  as  interpreter  a  day  or  two  before  was  of  that  tribe. 
His  suspicions  being  now  reawakened,  the  writer  waited  until 
his  Tunica  work  was  completed,  and  interviewed  her  once 
more.  He  then  learned  that  all  of  her  people  had  died,  or  rather 
had  killed  each  other  off,  when  she  was  seventeen  years  old,  but 
that  she  had  tried  to  remember  as  much  of  their  language  as  she 
could  and  had  often,  she  said,  spent  some  time  studying  out  how 
they  used  to  call  various  objects.  She  added  that  her  grand¬ 
mother  had  always  said  that  the  proper  name  of  their  tribe  was 
Ofo,  which  is  of  course  the  same  as  Ofogoula  with  the  omission 
of  the  Mobilian  ending  - ogoula  (or  - okla )  meaning  “people.” 
That  these  were  the  Indians  called  in  Tunica  U'shpi  is  shown 
both  by  the  testimony  of  the  living  Tunica  themselves,  and  by 
the  fact  that  the  term  as  it  occurs  in  early  records  is  always 
applied  to  a  tribe  on  Yazoo  river,  and  never,  so  far  as  appears,  to 
any  other.  It  is  true  that  three  of  the  four  references  to  U'shpi 
enumerate  the  Ofogoula  also  as  if  the  two  were  distinct  tribes; 
but  the  three  writers  who  do  this  are  precisely  those  who  had  the 
most  superficial  knowledge  of  the  Yazoo  river  tribes,  while  the 
fourth  had  the  best  facilities  for  knowing  whereof  he  spoke. 
Thus  the  first  reference  is  from  Iberville  on  the  authority  of  a 
Taensa  Indian  whose  home  was  some  distance  from  the  river  in 
question,  and  who  may  have  been  misunderstood.  The  second 


484  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


is  in  an  enumeration  by  Penicaut,  himself  none  too  accurate  an 
authority,  whose  expedition  merely  stopped  at  the  Yazoo  villages 
in  passing.  The  third  is  by  La  Harpe,  whose  visit  extended 
over  nine  or  ten  days.  During  that  time,  however,  he  set  out 
and  turned  back  once,  while  his  entire  stay  was  evidently  a  busy 
one.  The  fourth  reference,  in  which  their  name  appears  under 
the  distorted  form  Onspik,  is  by  Gravier,  whose  special  object, 
as  stated  above,  was  to  see  the  missionary  Davion,  then  reported 
to  be  dangerously  ill ;  and  it  is  plain  that  most  of  what  he  learned 
of  the  Tunica  came  through  that  prelate.  Now  Davion,  as 
appears  from  the  same  report,  was  devoting  all  of  his  time  to  the 
study  of  Tunica,  Tunica  being  the  language  spoken  by  the  lar¬ 
gest  number  of  people  there.  It  is  quite  natural  therefore  that 
he  should  have  learned  the  Tunica  name  for  this  tribe,  and  have 
communicated  it  to  Gravier.  Finally,  we  have  the  evidence  of 
the  language  which  is  totally  different  from  Osage,  and  seems  to 
approach  Biloxi  and  the  languages  of  the  eastern  Siouan  tribes 
nearer  than  any  others,  nearer  even  than  the  tongue  of  the  not 
distant  Quapaw. 

The  use  of  the  term  Ofo  by  my  informant,  and  the  fact  that 
nearly  all  early  writers  except  Du  Pratz  refer  to  this  tribe  as 
the  Ofogoula  or  Offogoula,  lead  the  writer  to  think  that  Du 
Pratz  has  made  a  mistake,  although  a  natural  and  a  pardonable 
one,  in  calling  them  Oufe  Ogoula  and  interpreting  the  name 
“Nation  of  the  Dog.”  Ufe  or  Ofe  is  the  Choctaw  and  Mobilian 
word  for  “dog,”  and  it  would  be  easy  and  natural  to  assume  that 
the  e  of  Ofe  has  been  absorbed  by  the  initial  0  of  -ogoula  or  -okla. 
But  if  Ofo  was  the  name  recognized  within  the  tribe,  it  was 
almost  certainly  of  native  origin,  and  drawn  neither  from  Choc- 


A  NEW  SIOUAN  DIALECT 


485 


taw  nor  Mobilian.  Pending  further  information  I  shall  there¬ 
fore  refer  to  this  tribe  as  the  Ofo  and  reject  -ogula  as  a  foreign 
addition. 

Following  are  the  first  ten  numerals  and  a  few  other  speci¬ 
mens  of  the  new  dialect: 


English 

Ofo 

English 

Ofo 

1 

nu'fha 

boy 

asti'ki 

2 

nu'p-ha 

baby 

ank-hd'shka 

3 

ta'ni 

father 

at-hi' 

4 

to'pa 

mother 

oni' 

5 

kifan' 

sister 

it-hon'fka 

6 

altApe' 

water 

ani' 

7 

fA'kumi 

fire 

ape'ti 

8 

pA'tAni 

tree,  stick 

itcon/  or  itca11' 

9 

ki'shtAshga 

earth 

a'ma" 

10 

lftAptAn/ 

dog 

atc-hu'nki 

I 

min'ti 

deer 

l'ya 

you 

tcin'ti 

bird 

deska'  or  teska' 

we 

on/ti 

fish 

xo 

a  person 

a'nkwa 

head 

ap-ha' 

man 

ito' 

mouth 

l'hi 

woman 

iya11' 

to  kill 

kte 

The  first  person  singular  is  formed  by  prefixing  b-,  ba-,  or 
bi- ;  the  second  person  singular,  by  prefixing  tc-,  tea-,  or  tci-,  or 
sometimes  sh-  which  is  regularly  used  in  the  imperative;  the 
third  person  singular  seems  to  take  no  prefix;  the  first  person 
dual  takes  on-  as  in  Dakota,  and,  as  in  Dakota,  there  are  no  other 
persons  of  the  dual  represented;  the  plural  persons  are  formed 
by  prefixing  on-  and  tc-  or  tea-  in  the  first  two  persons  and  suffix¬ 
ing  -tu  in  all.  A  curious  divergence  from  all  other  Siouan  dia¬ 
lects  is  to  be  found  in  the  presence  of  an  f  which  often  seems 
to  replace  Biloxi  or  Tutelo  j.  Tc  also  appears  to  replace  y. 


4B6  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


While  very  little  connected  material  could  be  obtained,  a 
fairly  large  vocabulary  was  recorded,  which  shows  that,  except¬ 
ing  the  features  just  noted,  the  dialect  conforms  in  all  essentials 
to  what  we  are  accustomed  to  find  in  Siouan  dialects  elsewhere. 

Before  the  discovery  chronicled  in  this  paper,  the  writer 
had  often  asked  himself  why  a  Muskhogean  tribe,  such  as  the 
Ofo  appeared  to  be,  should  have  chosen  to  separate  itself  from 
other  branches  of  that  family  and  associate  with  non-Muskho- 
gean  peoples  —  the  Yazoo,  Koroa,  and  Tunica.  The  mystery 
has  now  been  cleared  up.  At  the  same  time  this  discovery  does 
not  cast  suspicion  on  the  affiliations  of  any  other  bodies  of  In¬ 
dians,  since  it  is  practically  certain  that  the  Yazoo  and  Koroa 
were  altogether  different,  and  probably  connected  with  Tunica. 
On  the  upper  Yazoo  were  two  small  tribes  whose  speech  is  not 
known  with  certainty,  but  they  were  always  closely  associated 
with  the  Chickasaw  and  Chakchiuma,  from  which  it  may  be 
assumed  with  greater  probability  that  they  were  Muskhogean 
tribes  as  well. 

Bureau  of  American  Ethnology 
Washington,  D.  C. 


PRIMITIVE  INDUSTRIES  AS  A  NORMAL  COLLEGE 

COURSE 


BY 

Harlan  I.  Smith 

IT  is  only  in  recent  years  that  any  opportunity  for  a  system¬ 
atic  study  of  anthropology  has  been  provided  in  America. 
Thanks  to  the  initiative  of  Professor  Frederic  Ward  Put¬ 
nam,  Harvard  University  was  one  of  the  first  institutions  to 
provide  for  instruction  in  this  subject.  In  1890  there  was 
organized  the  Department  of  American  Archaeology  and  Eth¬ 
nology,  and  the  influence  of  the  anthropological  work  of  that 
department  has  been  far  reaching. 

Latterly,  interest  in  anthropology  has  been  awakened  among 
teachers  in  high  schools,  and  recently  an  experiment  was  made, 
by  one  whose  work  in  this  line  for  many  years  was  inspired  and 
guided  by  Professor  Putnam,  in  introducing  a  certain  phase  of 
anthropological  study  in  a  normal  college  course. 

As  the  demand  for  this  branch  of  anthropological  science 
in  such  an  educational  institution  was  new,  and  as  the  experience 
was  a  rather  novel  one,  an  outline  of  the  work  and  its  results 
may  be  of  interest.  In  the  fall  of  1906  I  was  invited  to  give 
a  lecture  course  on  the  evolution  of  industries  before  the  normal 
class  in  the  Department  of  Domestic  Art  at  Pratt  Institute.  The 
course  was  first  given  in  the  school-year  of  1906-07,  and  re¬ 
peated  in  1907-08. 


488  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Some  pedagogues  have  seized  upon  the  idea  that  the  life  of 
the  individual  is  a  repetition  of  the  life  of  the  race,  and  have 
endeavored  to  apply  this  theory  in  their  educational  methods. 
They  believe  that  in  its  earlier  years  the  child  should  be  not 
only  allowed,  but  encouraged,  to  practise  the  arts  of  primitive 
men,  in  order  that  it  may  have  that  actual  development  which 
they  hold  the  race  has  had,  and  thus  later  be  prepared  to  take 
up  training  in  the  arts  of  modern  times  on  a  level  with  the  high¬ 
est  development  of  the  race.  For  this  reason  it  has  been  urged 
that  those  who  are  to  teach  children  should  have  a  knowledge 
of  the  facts  regarding  the  arts  of  primitive  men. 

The  desire  has  been  for  the  presentation  of  primitive  indus¬ 
tries  in  chronological  order,  and  possibly  in  accordance  with  the 
cultural  scheme  that  has  been  used  by  a  large  number  of  teach¬ 
ers,  and  which  represents  man  as  first  living  in  trees;  later  in 
caves,  when  he  practised  the  arts  of  fire-making,  raft-building, 
and  the  like;  still  later  in  tents,  where  he  lived  as  a  nomad  tend¬ 
ing  flocks  and  herds;  then  as  an  agriculturist;  and  finally  as  a 
city  factory-hand. 

To  treat  the  subject  of  primitive  industries  chronologically, 
however,  seemed  to  be  impossible  at  the  present  stage  of  knowl¬ 
edge,  as  the  history  of  but  few  industries  is  known  for  more  than 
a  very  short  period,  as  the  origin  of  many  of  the  most  important 
is  obscure,  and  as  there  is  no  certainty  which  of  the  industries 
have  been  practised  the  longest. 

To  follow  the  cultural  scheme  above  mentioned  seemed  un¬ 
desirable,  because,  while  it  appears  logical,  it  is  probably  false. 
It  is  surely  untrue  that  all  branches  of  mankind  have  passed 
through  all  these  stages,  or  in  the  sequence  given.  It  certainly 


PRIMITIVE  INDUSTRIES 


489 


seems  highly  improbable  that  all  have  at  one  time  lived  in  a 
forest  country  where  they  could  be  tree-dwellers,  or  again  in  a 
country  of  caves  where  they  could  be  cave-dwellers.  It  seems 
equally  improbable  that  they  all  should  have  passed  from  the 
forest  country  to  a  country  suitable  for  herding  and  nomadic  life, 
and  again  from  the  prairies  and  regions  suitable  for  nomadic 
herders  to  the  sort  of  agricultural  country  where  tillage  could 
have  its  beginning;  while  if  they  remained  in  the  same  area,  a 
knowledge  of  irrigation  would  be  the  prerequisite  of  profitable 
agriculture.  In  fact,  the  whole  scheme  seems  to  be  based  upon 
altogether  too  few  anthropological  facts,  or  upon  data  selected 
at  the  expense  of  other  facts,  if  not  distorted  to  fit  the  scheme. 

Consequently,  in  our  present  state  of  knowledge  regarding 
the  chief  industries  which  have  been  practised  by  man,  it  seemed 
best  to  group  the  data  for  the  course  by  material,  economic  pur¬ 
suits,  and  industrial  activities.  The  subjects  were  presented  in 
thirty  lectures,  of  which  twenty-three  were  illustrated  with  mu¬ 
seum  specimens  and  occasional  demonstrations,  while  six  were 
reviews  with  stereopticon  pictures.  They  included  the  discus¬ 
sion  of  work  in  stone,  metal,  clay  (including  chiefly  the  ceramic 
art),  shell,  bone,  ivory,  antler,  horn,  claws,  quills,  bristles, 
beaks,  skin,  and  wood;  the  securing  of  food  by  hunting,  fishing, 
berrying,  gathering  roots,  and  similar  industries  depending  upon 
the  utilization  of  natural  products,  agriculture  and  zooculture; 
fire-making,  house-building,  clothing,  basketry,  spinning,  weav¬ 
ing,  textiles,  transportation,  and  art. 

The  adoption  of  this  schedule  furnished  an  arbitrary  means 
of  classification  for  which  nothing  more  was  claimed  than  con¬ 
venience  in  giving  to  the  students  facts  which  they  could  use  in 


490 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


teaching  children,  and  which  in  the  aggregate,  it  was  hoped, 
might  further  their  own  ideas  of  the  road  which  each  of  our 
industries  has  traveled.  It  seemed  that,  even  though  it  is  im¬ 
possible  to  discuss  the  whole  history  of  any  single  industry,  a 
knowledge  of  a  portion  of  its  development,  taken  with  similar 
knowledge  regarding  a  number  of  other  industries,  would  show 
that  the  present  industrial  life  is  a  heritage  for  which  man  has 
struggled  since  the  earliest  prehistoric  times. 

It  seemed  practicable  to  discuss  the  varieties  of  each  class 
of  material  which  have  been  used  by  man,  the  ways  in  which 
they  have  been  manipulated,  the  tools  used  in  working  them, 
the  things  made  of  them,  the  periods  when  they  were  first  used 
by  man  in  various  parts  of  the  world,  the  portions  of  the  world 
where  they  have  not  been  used,  the  materials  used  as  substitutes 
for  others,  the  position  which  work  in  each  kind  of  material 
holds  in  our  industries  to-day,  and,  so  far  as  possible,  the  chron¬ 
ological  progress  of  the  use  of  each. 

It  seemed  less  practicable  to  attempt  to  discuss  exhaustively 
all  the  industries  of  any  particular  period  or  stage  of  human  de¬ 
velopment  grouped  according  to  materials,  such  as  stone,  metal, 
shell,  bone,  wood,  skin,  etc.,  or  to  attempt  to  compare  the  indus¬ 
tries  of  any  one  time  or  stage  —  like,  for  instance,  the  paleolithic 
period  —  with  the  corresponding  industries  of  a  later  or  earlier 
time  or  stage. 

By  following  the  method  of  presentation  outlined  above, 
many  difficulties  were  avoided.  It  did  not  become  necessary  to 
establish  a  sequence  of  the  development  of  industries,  which,  as 
stated  before,  can  hardly  be  established.  In  this  arrangement  of 
the  material,  the  question  was  not  emphasized  whether  stone  was 


PRIMITIVE  INDUSTRIES 


491 


used  at  an  earlier  time  than  shell,  or  whether  wood  was  used 
before  stone.  It  was  not  necessary  to  state  whether  fire  was 
first  made  by  friction  or  by  percussion;  whether  the  picking 
of  wild  seeds  led  to  agriculture;  whether  herding  and  nomadic 
life  preceded  agriculture,  or  vice  versa;  whether  the  invention 
of  spinning  preceded  or  followed  simple  weaving;  and  whether 
baskets  were  made  before  or  after  the  invention  of  cloth. 

In  treating  stone-work,  the  different  kinds  of  stone  and  the 
nature  of  each  were  first  discussed,  some  attention  being  paid  to 
indicating  which  were  the  more  commonly  used,  and  to  the 
source  of  supply — -whether  from  pebbles  or  bed-rock.  Meth¬ 
ods  of  quarrying  and  the  tools  used  in  quarrying  were  also  de¬ 
scribed.  Following  this,  the  origin  of  the  use  of  stone  was 
touched  upon  in  a  theoretic  way.  The  need  of  a  hard  material 
for  tools  and  objects  of  defence,  as  well  as  the  natural  inclina¬ 
tion  to  throw  missiles  in  self-defence  (which  might  lead  to  the 
picking  up  of  stones,  the  most  likely  objects  at  hand),  suggested 
themselves  as  among  the  causes  which  may  have  given  rise  to  the 
use  of  stone  in  some  places  or  phases.  The  readiness  of  modem 
man,  in  the  absence  of  proper  tools,  to  use  pebbles  for  such  work 
as  cracking  nuts,  driving  stakes,  readjusting  wagon-tires,  and  re¬ 
pairing  fences,  was  mentioned. 

Under  processes  and  tools  used  in  fashioning  stone,  atten¬ 
tion  was  called  to  the  fact  that  these  depend,  to  a  certain  extent, 
upon  the  material  and  the  resultant  forms  desired.  The  pro¬ 
cesses  of  fracturing,  chipping,  flaking,  battering,  grinding  and 
polishing,  rubbing  grooves  and  breaking,  incising  with  picks  and 
knives,  scraping  and  drilling,  were  illustrated  by  demonstra¬ 
tions  which  proved  of  particular  interest  to  the  class,  impressing, 


492 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


as  they  did,  the  ease  and  rapidity  with  which  the  work  could 
be  done.  The  distribution  over  the  world  of  each  kind  and 
method  of  working  stone  was  mentioned. 

Objects  made  of  stone,  and  the  kind  of  stone  chosen  for 
each,  as  well  as  the  life  history  from  the  raw  material  to  the 
finished  product  of  a  number  of  stone  objects,  were  next  taken 
under  consideration.  The  making  of  a  few  stone  implements 
was  also  demonstrated.  The  distribution  of  each  object,  as  well 
as  its  use,  was  discussed.  After  this,  a  demonstration  of  the  use 
of  a  few  stone  tools  was  given.  The  use  of  the  stone  drill  and 
of  the  celt  particularly  impressed  the  class,  on  account  of  the 
unexpected  efficiency  of  the  primitive  tools,  which  are  capable 
of  rapid  and  accurate  execution. 

A  brief  review  of  the  sequence  or  chronology  of  various 
stone  ages  was  given,  and  some  attention  paid  to  examples  of 
primitive  stone-work  which  exist  to-day  in  remote  parts  of  the 
world  and  in  the  centers  of  our  highest  civilization.  Attention 
was  called  to  the  fact  that  stone  tools  used  in  ordinary  everyday 
life  are  readily  modified,  —  new  and  more  efficient  materials  of 
manufacture  being  introduced  and  more  serviceable  forms  being 
adopted,  either  owing  to  an  inner  development  or  to  the  adoption 
of  foreign  types,  —  while  ceremonial  stone  objects  are  clung  to 
more  tenaciously,  and  are  inclined  to  survive  even  a  remarkable 
advance  in  civilization  and  culture.  The  same  observation  was 
made  in  regard  to  other  materials. 

The  subject  of  work  in  metal  was  treated  along  somewhat 
similar  lines.  The  kinds  of  metal  used  by  primitive  men  —  such 
as  copper,  gold,  silver,  bronze,  and  iron  —  were  mentioned, 
together  with  their  accessibility  and  their  properties.  The  rel- 


PRIMITIVE  INDUSTRIES 


493 


ative  abundance  of  different  metals,  and  the  qualities  which 
caused  primitive  men  to  discover  them  and  which  made  each 
available  for  use  by  means  of  processes  understood  by  him,  were 
discussed.  The  origin  of  the  use  of  metal,  processes  used  in 
securing,  preparing,  and  working  it  into  artifacts  (such  as  min¬ 
ing,  pounding,  smelting,  casting,  and  inlaying),  were  taken  up 
in  order.  Brief  consideration  was  given  to  the  tools  used  in 
metal-work,  the  construction  of  bellows,  blowpipes,  and  the  like, 
as  well  as  to  objects  made  of  each  kind  of  metal,  the  life  history 
of  several  kinds  of  metal  objects,  and  the  portion  of  the  world 
where  such  objects  have  been  made.  The  distribution  over  the 
world  of  each  kind  of  metal-work  was  discussed.  The  chronol¬ 
ogy  of  metal-work  was  given  but  brief  attention;  but  the  lack 
of  sharp  limitations  between  the  stone,  bronze,  and  iron  ages, 
was  mentioned,  as  well  as  the  fact  that  there  has  been  no  bronze 
age  in  North  America,  where  copper  was  treated  as  stone  rather 
than  as  a  metal.  Considerable  attention  was  given  to  Navaho 
and  Haida  silver-work. 

Work  in  clay  was  considered  only  with  reference  to  pottery 
and  brick  making,  especially  the  former.  The  quarrying  and 
preparation  of  clay  for  pottery-making  was  taken  up.  Some 
attention  was  given  to  the  fact  that  white,  black,  red,  and  other 
colors  were  due  to  the  variety  of  clay  mixture  used.  A  discus¬ 
sion  of  the  early  discovery  of  tempering  material  (such  as  stone, 
shell,  or  broken  pottery)  followed.  Theoretic  suggestions  as  to 
how  pottery  may  have  originated  were  given,  together  with  cer¬ 
tain  examples.  The  various  methods  of  making  pottery — with 
the  hands,  with  paddles,  with  molds,  by  coiling,  and  with  the 
wheel  —  of  various  degrees  of  excellence,  were  described  and 


494 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


illustrated,  with  specimens  of  the  finished  product.  The  life 
history  of  a  single  pottery  dish  was  demonstrated  by  means  of 
photographs.  The  decoration  of  pottery  was  then  discussed,  be¬ 
ginning  with  illustrations  of  the  impressions  of  the  fingers,  pad¬ 
dles,  and  uneffaced  coils,  —  all  due  to  the  method  of  manufac¬ 
ture,  —  and  continuing  to  the  imitation  of  natural  forms,  such 
as  gourds,  shells,  frogs,  and  the  human  form  or  face.  The  in¬ 
cising,  painting,  and  adding  of  modeled  forms  to  pottery  was 
also  included.  Attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that  the  signs 
or  traces  of  manufacture  mentioned  above,  such  as  finger-marks, 
paddle  impressions,  and  coils,  may  have  been  imitated  for  deco¬ 
rative  purposes.  Various  sorts  of  things  made  of  pottery  were 
shown,  including  such  objects  as  whistles  and  whistling-jars, 
tools,  spindle-whorls,  and  pipes. 

The  modern  application  of  primitive  methods  of  manu¬ 
facture  and  decoration,  as  well  as  the  fact  that  the  Chinese, 
whom  many  of  our  people  consider  primitive,  long  ago 
developed  an  unsurpassed  porcelain  industry,  was  emphasized. 
The  influence  of  one  culture  upon  another,  as  shown  by 
pottery,  was  brought  out;  also  the  fact  that  ceramic  industry, 
even  in  regions  where  it  is  developed  to  a  high  degree,  is  some¬ 
times  blotted  out  by  the  introduction  of  such  objects  as  the  cheap, 
crude  tin  can.  The  general  diffusion  of  pottery  and  its  absence 
from  certain  regions,  as  well  as  the  fact  that  stone  or  wooden 
receptacles,  and  dishes  made  of  hide  or  other  animal  tissues,  are 
in  some  regions  used  in  place  of  it,  was  mentioned,  with  an 
attempt  to  bring  out  fully  the  effect  of  physical  environment, 
tradition,  and  contact  with  other  cultures. 


PRIMITIVE  INDUSTRIES 


495 


In  discussing  work  in  shell,  the  various  kinds  of  shells  which 
primitive  people  have  used  for  important  purposes,  or  in  great 
numbers,  or  in  many  parts  of  the  world,  were  mentioned.  The 
probability  that  shells  were  used  at  a  very  early  time,  and  the 
fact  that  the  lack  of  evidence  of  that  use  is  probably  accounted 
for  by  their  perishable  nature,  came  in  for  a  share  of  the  dis¬ 
cussion,  as  well  as  the  recent  use  of  shells  over  practically  the 
whole  world.  It  was  pointed  out  that  in  certain  parts  of  the 
world  where  no  stone  occurs  —  notably  on  the  coral  islands  — 
shells  were  used  in  place  of  it.  Nor  was  the  fact  neglected  that 
the  people  of  such  places,  never  having  passed  through  the  stone 
age  or  stage  of  culture,  exemplify  the  complexity  and  irregu¬ 
larity  of  human  development  in  opposition  to  any  set  schematic 
theory  of  evolution. 

The  structure  and  character  of  shells  and  the  fact  that  cer¬ 
tain  shell  material  resembles  some  kinds  of  stone,  together  with 
the  fact  that  shell  has  been  worked  by  some  of  the  same  methods 
employed  in  making  stone  objects,  —  namely,  by  chipping,  peck¬ 
ing,  grinding,  rubbing,  grooving  and  breaking,  incising,  and 
drilling,  —  were  discussed. 

Utensils  and  other  objects  made  of  shell  were  illustrated  by 
specimens,  including  such  objects  as  paint-cups,  spoons,  wam¬ 
pum,  beads,  money,  fish-hooks,  and  window-panes;  while  refer¬ 
ence  was  made  to  its  use  for  tempering  pottery  and  inlaying. 
The  distribution  of  the  different  kinds  of  shell  objects  and  the 
methods  of  working  shell  throughout  the  world  were  briefly 
mentioned. 

Considerable  attention  was  given  to  the  use  and  importance 
of  shell  as  money  in  various  parts  of  the  world.  Mention  was 


496  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


made  of  such  matters  as  the  shipment  of  immense  quantities  of 
shell  money  by  civilized  nations  for  trade  with  African  natives, 
and  of  its  use  among  primitive  people  for  the  redemption  of 
forfeited  lives,  the  ransom  of  slaves,  and  the  purchase  of  wives 
or  advancement  in  social  position.  The  parallelism  between 
some  of  these  customs  among  primitive  peoples,  and  customs 
fundamentally  and  vitally  the  same,  still  surviving  in  our  great 
world-centers  of  culture,  was  noted. 

While  it  was  not  possible  to  devote  more  than  an  hour  and 
part  of  one  review  illustrated  with  lantern-slides,  to  the  discus¬ 
sion  of  work  in  bone,  antler,  horn,  teeth,  and  similar  animal  ma¬ 
terials,  it  was  still  possible  to  suggest  the  variety  of  these  mate¬ 
rials  and  the  extent  to  which  they  have  been  used,  as  well  as  to 
indicate  the  portions  of  the  world  in  which  objects  of  each  type 
have  been  made  from  them  and  used  by  primitive  people.  The 
methods  of  working  these  materials,  and  the  method  of  manufac¬ 
ture  and  manner  of  use  of  certain  objects  made  from  them,  were 
illustrated  by  demonstrations  and  specimens.  Here  was  an  op¬ 
portunity  to  show  that  man  made  objects  of  bone,  ivory,  and 
antler  at  a  very  early  period,  and  to  call  attention  to  the  engraved 
and  sculptured  specimens  of  these  materials  that  were  made  with 
crude  chipped  implements,  before  man  learned  to  polish  stone, 
and  even  before  he  learned  to  make  pottery,  as  is  shown  by  the 
finds  from  western  European  caves. 

The  character  of  bone,  ivory,  and  other  animal  materials, 
was  commented  upon.  It  was  shown  that  while  some  of  them, 
like  bone  and  antler,  resist  decay  for  a  long  period  under  certain 
conditions,  others,  like  whalebone  and  horn,  are  subject  to  the 
attacks  of  insects;  so  that  objects  made  of  them  in  early  times 


PRIMITIVE  INDUSTRIES 


497 


have  long  since  disappeared.  In  this  way,  evidence  as  to  the 
chronology  of  work  in  these  materials  has  been  lost.  It  was 
noted  that  in  tropical  and  temperate  regions  a  comparatively 
small  variety  of  objects,  and  not  a  great  number  of  any  one  kind, 
is  made  of  bone  and  similar  material;  while  in  the  arctic  coun¬ 
tries,  where  wood  is  scarce,  such  material  is  extensively  and 
skilfully  used.  This  was  chosen  as  an  example  of  the  effect  of 
environment  upon  material  culture  among  a  primitive  people 
whose  commerce  and  means  of  transportation  do  not  make  them 
independent  of  their  immediate  surroundings.  It  was  possible 
also  to  show,  when  discussing  the  use  of  the  elk-tooth,  which  is 
prized  by  the  savage  notwithstanding  its  lack  of  usefulness,  how 
people  of  our  own  civilization  develop  and  cling  to  an  object,  not 
on  account  of  its  practical  value,  but  because  of  its  associations. 
This  instance  was  given  as  an  example  of  the  power  of  influences 
other  than  reason  or  physical  environment,  that  determine  the 
development  of  material  culture. 

In  discussing  work  in  skin,  attention  was  called  to  the  vast 
number  of  quadrupeds,  birds,  and  fish,  whose  skins  have  been 
used  by  primitive  peoples;  and  notice  was  taken  of  the  fact  that 
the  intestines  of  some  animals  have  been  used  for  certain  pur¬ 
poses  in  the  past  as  well  as  in  the  present,  while  sinew  and  allied 
material  have  served  extensively  for  thread.  Some  of  the  ani¬ 
mals  whose  skins  have  been  used  were  mentioned;  among  them 
the  musk-ox,  buffalo,  elk,  reindeer,  deer,  antelope,  goat,  sheep, 
dog,  fox,  elephant,  and  fishes  of  various  kinds.  The  fact  was 
emphasized  that  skins  of  more  than  a  hundred  and  forty  different 
kinds  of  animals  were  used  by  American  Indian  women  alone. 


498  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  processes,  in  various  stages  of  completion,  of  removing 
and  preparing  the  skins,  were  discussed  and  illustrated,  so  far 
as  possible,  with  the  actual  tools  and  products.  Thus  the  stu¬ 
dents  acquired  some  idea  of  how  skins  were  removed,  scraped 
free  from  clinging  fat  and  flesh,  pared  down  to  an  even  thick¬ 
ness  throughout,  and  softened  as  well  as  cured  and  cleaned;  also 
how,  for  some  purposes,  the  hair  and  fur  were  scraped  off.  Ref¬ 
erence  was  made  to  the  oiling  of  the  skin  with  brains,  or  other 
material  so  that  it  would  not  be  damaged  by  water,  and  to  the 
manner  in  which  it  was  frequently  colored. 

Attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that  modern  tanning  is 
simply  a  more  complicated  plan  of  carrying  out  primitive  pro¬ 
cesses  with  better  tools  and  materials.  Some  of  the  objects  made 
by  primitive  peoples  from  skin  were  mentioned,  such  as  covers 
for  tents  and  boat-frames,  sacks,  sandals,  moccasins,  leggings, 
robes,  blankets,  drumheads,  and  armor.  The  modern  counter¬ 
parts  of  primitive  skin  objects  —  such  as  caps,  coats,  satchels, 
and  book-covers  —  were  mentioned.  What  perhaps  appealed  to 
the  students  most  of  all  was  that  the  primitive  skin-worker  was 
in  a  way  the  forerunner  of  our  butchers,  tanners,  furriers,  dyers, 
milliners,  tailors,  bookbinders,  and  upholsterers. 

The  tendency  of  environment  to  affect  material  culture  was 
exemplified  by  the  skin-work  of  the  Eskimo  and  Plains  Indians, 
both  of  whom  live  where  plants  suitable  for  weaving  are  scarce, 
and  who  have  developed  skin-work  to  a  high  degree  at  the  ex¬ 
pense  of  weaving. 

In  discussing  wood-work,  attention  was  called  to  the  prob¬ 
ability  that  wood  was  used  by  mankind  at  a  very  early  period; 
although  evidence,  in  the  shape  of  ancient  objects  made  of  wood, 


PRIMITIVE  INDUSTRIES 


499 


is  not  extant,  because  of  the  perishable  character  of  the  material. 
In  some  regions,  certain  kinds  of  wood  are  so  extensively  used 
that  they  almost  determine  the  whole  technique  of  that  area, 
and  even  of  some  of  the  surrounding  country.  For  instance,  the 
employment  of  bamboo  by  the  modern  natives  of  Japan  and 
eastern  Asia  may  be  said  to  characterize  their  material  culture. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  palm  of  the  Philippine  islands  and  the 
red  cedar  on  the  northwest  coast  of  America. 

The  different  kinds  of  wood  employed  by  primitive  peoples 
were  illustrated  by  specimens.  Processes  used  in  fashioning 
wood  were  shown:  such  as  splitting;  burning,  as  in  the  felling 
of  trees,  hollowing  out  of  canoes,  and  both  ancient  and  modern 
pyrography;  bending,  as  in  the  making  of  primitive  snowshoes 
and  modern  furniture;  beating  to  separate  the  wood  along  the 
lines  of  annual  growth,  as  among  the  Ojibwa  basket-makers; 
sawing,  as  was  sometimes,  though  seldom,  practised  by  prim¬ 
itive  people;  lashing  pieces  of  wood  together,  as  we  use  glue 
and  nails;  sewing,  as  in  the  fastening  of  the  bottoms  of  boxes 
on  the  northwest  coast  of  America;  and  also  carving  for  orna¬ 
mental  effects.  The  use  of  wooden  pegs  in  advance  of  nails  was 
mentioned,  and  the  planing  or  scraping  of  wood  with  chipped 
implements,  as  it  is  done  to-day  with  steel  tools,  was  demon¬ 
strated.  Sandstone  and  shark-fins  used  by  primitive  people,  as 
we  use  sandpaper,  were  shown,  together  with  wood  worked  by 
means  of  these  tools.  Attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that, 
among  certain  primitive  peoples,  holes  were  made  by  twisting 
out  the  heart  of  sticks  as  for  pipe-stems,  and  also  by  burning, 
as  is  done  by  our  carriage-builders  to-day.  Drilling  in  wood 
with  a  chipped  stone  drill  was  illustrated  by  actual  work. 


500  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

Attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that  wood  has  been  en¬ 
graved  from  time  immemorial,  and  that  the  engraved  lines  were 
sometimes  filled  in  with  color  or  with  lime,  also  with  an  inlay 
such  as  bone,  shell,  wood,  and  metal.  Wedges  made  of  wood  and 
antler,  axes,  adzes,  knives,  and  drills  made  of  stone,  were  ex¬ 
hibited.  In  this  manner,  the  processes  and  the  tools  used  in 
working  wood  were  discussed. 

Fire-making  was  illustrated  with  specimens  of  apparatus 
and  by  actually  making  fire  by  two  of  the  principal  methods; 
namely,  with  the  bow-drill  and  with  flint  and  steel.  This  pres¬ 
entation  brought  out  the  following  points:  that  mankind  has 
known  how  to  make  fire  from  very  early  times;  that  the  time 
of  its  invention  and  the  inventor  are  unknown;  and  that  it  is 
also  unknown  which  method  was  first  employed.  Some  of  the 
methods  no  doubt  were  developed  from  others;  but  the  making 
of  fire  by  percussion,  by  friction,  with  the  fire-syringe,  and  by 
some  other  methods,  must  have  originated  independently.  In 
fact,  it  is  within  the  realm  of  probability  that  some  of  the  same 
methods  of  producing  fire  may  have  been  invented  independently 
in  different  parts  of  the  world. 

Specimens  were  used  to  illustrate  and  demonstrate  the  old 
Eskimo  method  of  making  fire  by  striking  two  pieces  of  iron 
pyrites  together,  as  well  as  its  modern  equivalent,  characterized 
by  the  substitution  of  recently  imported  steel  for  one  of  the 
stones.  The  production  of  fire  by  striking  the  outer  surface  of 
bamboo  with  the  broken  edge  of  a  fragment  of  pottery  was  also 
mentioned.  Attention  was  called  to  the  facts  that  people  in 
various  parts  of  the  world  have  produced  fire  by  striking  to¬ 
gether  two  pieces  of  flint,  or  by  striking  a  piece  of  flint  with 


PRIMITIVE  INDUSTRIES 


5oi 

iron  or  steel;  and  that  quite  recently  in  our  own  country  our 
forefathers  made  fire  by  this  method.  Indeed,  a  novelty  cigar- 
lighter  based  on  this  principle  is  sold  to-day. 

The  Samoan  plow,  the  bamboo  saw,  the  method  of  pull¬ 
ing  a  bit  of  rattan  back  and  forth  under  a  piece  of  bamboo  held 
down  by  the  feet,  the  palm-drill,  bow-drill,  and  pump-drill,  — 
were  all  demonstrated. 

Fire  was  actually  made  by  the  bow-drill  method,  and  this 
demonstration  proved  to  be,  perhaps,  the  most  impressive  in  the 
course.  Attention  was  called  to  the  details  of  technique  which, 
although  unimportant  from  a  theoretical  standpoint,  must  be 
carefully  mastered  in  order  to  produce  fire  by  these  methods. 

Attention  was  called  to  the  more  modern  methods  of  making 
fire  by  chemical  combinations,  with  lenses  and  mirrors,  with 
innumerable  kinds  of  matches,  and,  most  modern  of  all,  by  means 
of  electricity. 

Three  periods  were  devoted  to  the  subject  of  food,  passing 
on  from  the  methods  employed  in  securing  it  to  its  final  con¬ 
sumption.  In  the  first  period  were  taken  up  what  it  seemed 
justifiable  to  term  the  most  primitive  methods  of  securing  food; 
that  is,  hunting,  fishing,  gathering  of  wild  berries,  seeds,  bark, 
roots,  and  other  gifts  of  nature,  without  any  effort  towards  re¬ 
plenishing  the  natural  supply.  In  the  second  period  were  dis¬ 
cussed  those  methods  by  which,  for  the  food  taken,  a  new  supply 
is  provided,  as  by  agriculture,  breeding,  establishment  of  hatch¬ 
eries,  and  similar  ways  of  leaving  the  world-supply  of  food  so 
as  to  equal  if  not  exceed  the  natural  production. 

From  the  mountain-tops  to  the  sea-bottom  the  earth  has  been 
searched  for  food,  and  the  quest  to-day  is  pursued  as  anxiously 


502 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


as  ever.  Many  cases  of  sickness,  and  even  deaths,  must  have 
resulted  from  the  innumerable  experiments  made  by  mankind  for 
the  purpose  of  determining  what  things  were  serviceable  for 
food. 

Attention  was  called  to  the  great  variety  of  foods  that  have 
been  used,  and  to  the  fact  that  there  is  no  exclusively  meat-eating 
or  plant-eating  tribe,  for  even  the  Eskimo  consumes  some  ber¬ 
ries,  although  his  environment  furnishes  hardly  any  vegetable 
substances.  The  kinds  of  food  vary  with  changing  seasons  be¬ 
cause  of  the  control  of  environment.  The  distribution  of  game 
and  edible  plants  largely  influenced  the  range  of  man.  Our  debt 
to  the  red  race  for  maple-sugar  was  mentioned.  Besides  calling 
attention  to  animal  and  plant  foods,  mention  was  made  of  min¬ 
erals,  such  as  salt  and  clay,  as  well  as  of  narcotics  and  intoxicants, 
which  seem  to  have  been  known  to  many  primitive  peoples. 

The  tools  used  by  primitive  men  for  hunting  and  fishing  — 
such  as  bows,  arrows,  spears,  blow-guns,  traps,  hooks,  lines,  and 
nets  —  were  enumerated,  and  in  most  cases  illustrated  by  means 
of  specimens.  Attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that  some  people 
captured  animals  with  the  naked  hands.  In  such  acts  they  re¬ 
semble  the  apes,  and  are  not  far  removed  from  such  animals  as 
wolves  and  foxes,  which  seize  their  food  with  their  jaws.  Brief 
mention  was  made  of  the  employment  of  various  animals  —  such 
as  dogs,  elephants,  and  falcons  —  for  hunting  and  fishing,  and 
the  use  of  decoys,  as  well  as  methods  of  stalking. 

Attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that,  as  buffalo-hunting 
developed  extensively  along  the  Missouri,  the  tribes  became  less 
agricultural.  This  was  referred  to  as  an  example  of  the  effect 
of  new  environment  and  of  the  acquisition  of  a  new  domestic 


PRIMITIVE  INDUSTRIES 


503 


animal,  the  horse;  and  used  to  illustrate  the  varying  course  of 
human  culture,  which  in  this  case  led  an  agricultural  tribe  to 
become  a  tribe  of  hunters,  thus  showing  that  the  course  from 
a  hunting  stage  to  an  agricultural  stage  is  not  by  any  means 
applicable  everywhere.  Another  instance  of  this  is  the  fact  that 
the  Koryak,  who  were  originally  a  sedentary  people  on  the  sea- 
coast,  afterwards  became  reindeer-breeding  nomads. 

The  inadequacy  of  vegetable  foods  in  certain  regions  and  at 
certain  periods,  and  its  effect  on  man’s  choice  of  food  and  the 
selection  of  a  home,  as  well  as  the  diversity  of  animal  foods,  were 
mentioned.  The  strong  control  of  environment  over  the  choice 
of  food  was  contrasted  with  its  less  firm  control  over  other  phases 
of  life  where  tradition  or  custom  often  exert  a  stronger  deter¬ 
minant  force  on  the  lives  of  people. 

In  discussing  agriculture,  it  was  again  pointed  out  that  there 
is  no  stage  in  human  history  where  an  exclusively  vegetable  diet 
existed.  Various  methods  of  practising  agriculture,  with  the 
tools  used  in  each,  from  the  simple  digging-stick  to  the  most 
intricate  combination  of  harvesting  and  threshing  machines  of 
the  present  day,  were  briefly  mentioned.  Attentiomwas  paid  to 
the  practice  of  irrigation  by  the  precolumbian  Indians  of  Amer¬ 
ica,  whose  skill  in  this  line  surpassed  that  of  our  own  people 
until  very  recent  times.  The  work  of  irrigation  in  other  por¬ 
tions  of  the  world  and  its  benefits  and  abuses  also  found  brief 
mention.  The  intensive  farming  of  the  Japanese  and  some  other 
peoples  was  contrasted  with  that  of  certain  portions  of  the  United 
States.  In  passing,  it  was  pleasing  to  note  the  debt  of  the  white 
race  to  the  Indians  for  two  agricultural  products,  corn  and  to¬ 
bacco,  now  so  extensively  cultivated  by  our  own  people. 


504 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


In  discussing  breeding,  the  whole  subject  of  domestication 
was  taken  up.  The  fact  that  for  many  years  mankind  had  not 
domesticated  any  new  animals  of  importance,  suggests  that  much 
of  the  work  of  domestication  was  accomplished  in  primitive 
times.  A  number  of  domesticated  animals  were  enumerated, 
and  also  some  which  are  still  in  a  semi-domesticated  state,  such  as 
the  coyote,  which  is  tolerated  in  the  environs  of  certain  Indian 
villages,  as  well  as  those  animals  which  do  not  seem  to  be  com¬ 
pletely  under  the  domain  of  man,  but  return  to  a  wild  state  very 
easily,  such  as  the  turkey.  A  distinction  was  made  between 
those  animals  which  are  really  domesticated  and  those  which  are 
only  kept  in  confinement. 

Attention  was  directed  to  the  great  change  in  the  economic 
conditions  of  the  Great  Plains  of  North  America.  In  early 
times  the  pursuit  of  the  vast  herds  of  buffalo  was  so  regulated, 
that  we  may  recognize  in  it  the  first  attempt  at  controlling  the 
increase  and  availability  of  the  food-supply.  At  present  we  find 
large  herds  of  domesticated  cattle  in  those  districts  where  the 
buffalo  has  become  practically  extinct.  It  was  also  mentioned 
that  here  the  care  of  herds  of  cattle  more  nearly  approaches 
hunting  than  in  most  other  parts  of  the  country. 

It  was  suggested  that  tolerance  and  friendship  for  animals 
may  possibly  have  led  to  their  domestication,  as  the  harvesting 
of  wild  products  probably  led  to  agriculture. 

Milk  as  an  important  article  of  diet,  was  discussed,  and 
the  people  using  milk  were  enumerated. 

The  fact  that  any  domesticated  animal  or  cultivated  plant 
which  is  found  to  be  useful  is  rapidly  taken  up  by  the  people 
inhabiting  contiguous  areas,  illustrates  well  the  view-point  that 


PRIMITIVE  INDUSTRIES 


s°s 

physical  environment  is  not  the  only  cause  to  be  reckoned  with 
in  considering  the  development  of  culture,  but  that  the  effects 
of  contact  with  neighboring  cultures  are  also  of  great  im¬ 
portance. 

Various  methods  for  the  preparation  and  preservation  of 
food  —  including  such  processes  as  beating,  crushing,  and  grind¬ 
ing  in  making  flour  and  meal  from  such  products  as  corn,  grain, 
acorns,  and  sweet-potatoes  —  were  discussed;  and  specimens  of 
the  objects  used  in  these  processes,  including  mortars  and  pestles, 
were  shown.  The  drying  and  smoking  of  meats,  and  their  pro¬ 
tection  from  the  air  by  sealing  with  tallow,  received  some  atten¬ 
tion  ;  while  the  Eskimo  custom  of  storing  food  in  a  frozen  state 
was  mentioned,  as  were  also  methods  of  converting  milk  pro¬ 
ducts  into  cheese,  butter,  and  various  fermented  drinks. 

The  storage  of  food  by  man  was  likened  to  the  hoarding  of 
nuts  by  squirrels,  the  storing-away  of  honey  by  bees,  and  similar 
animal  activities.  Different  kinds  of  caches,  storehouses,  and 
granaries,  were  illustrated  by  means  of  stereopticon  views. 

The  cooking  of  food  as  a  labor-saving  device  for  the  diges¬ 
tive  organs,  which  results  in  economy  of  food,  received  some 
attention.  It  was  also  noted  that  tribes  that  cook  their  food  are 
perhaps  more  energetic  than  those  who  eat  most  of  their  food  in 
a  raw  state.  The  various  methods  of  cooking,  such  as  roasting, 
boiling,  and  baking,  were  mentioned.  The  fact  that  man  cooks 
his  food  was  specified  as  one  of  the  great  points  of  difference 
between  him  and  the  other  animals. 

The  various  dishes  and  utensils  used  in  serving  food  were 
briefly  described,  together  with  methods  of  preparing  food  for 
serving,  materials  used  for  seasoning,  and  the  mats,  which  are 


506  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


represented  in  our  own  times  by  tablecloths  and  napkins,  many 
of  the  objects  being  illustrated  with  museum  specimens.  It  was 
shown  that  many  foods  which  are  distasteful  to  one  tribe  are  con¬ 
sidered  luxuries  by  another,  and  that  the  method  of  preparation 
or  the  condition  of  food  which  is  considered  a  luxury  by  civil¬ 
ized  man  may  be  thought  filthy  or  even  injurious  by  primitive 
man,  and  vice  versa.  Primitive  people  have  contributed  many 
kinds  of  dishes  to  the  bill  of  fare  of  civilization;  in  fact,  nearly 
all  of  our  food-preparations  of  to-day  are  the  outcome  of  ex¬ 
periments  on  the  part  of  primitive  man. 

In  discussing  shelter,  attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that 
even  some  of  the  lower  animals,  such  as  ants,  bees,  birds,  and  apes, 
build  homes.  From  the  earliest  times,  man  seems  to  have  tried 
to  build  some  kind  of  shelter  for  himself,  although  there  are 
tribes  now  living  whose  only  protection  against  the  wind  is  a  few 
branches,  and  others  who  seek  refuge  in  a  hole  dug  in  the 
ground. 

Materials  mentioned  among  those  used  by  primitive  peoples 
for  house-building  included  snow,  earth,  brick,  and  stone  among 
the  minerals;  leaves,  bark,  and  wood  from  the  vegetable  world; 
and  skins,  bones,  and  tusks  among  animal  materials.  The  places 
where  each  material  is  made  use  of  received  some  attention.  It 
was  noted  that  the  physical  environment  exercises  control  over 
architecture ;  for  instance,  in  arctic  regions,  where  wood  is  scarce, 
snow,  ice,  earth,  stone,  bones,  and  skins  are  used.  In  northern 
forest  countries,  the  bark  of  birch  and  elm  is  placed  over  frames 
made  of  poles,  or  mats  woven  of  rushes  are  spread  over  frames 
made  of  saplings;  while  in  the  buffalo  plains,  buffalo-skins  are 
used  for  house-covers.  In  tropical  countries,  leaves  and  wood 


PRIMITIVE  INDUSTRIES 


507 


are  extensively  employed.  Where  perishable  material  is  used, 
the  houses  are  usually  simpler  than  in  regions  where  such  lasting 
substances  as  stone  and  brick  are  used.  Architectural  refinement 
and  ornament  seem  to  develop  where  the  use  of  durable  materials 
coincides  with  a  climate  which  does  not  require  a  struggle  for 
warmth  and  food,  or  against  heat. 

It  was  pointed  out  that  houses  are  dome-shaped,  conical, 
cubical,  and  of  similar  form,  varying  with  the  available  mate¬ 
rial  and  the  climate.  The  dome-shape  sustains  well  the  weight 
of  heavy  snow,  and  is  extensively  used  in  cold  countries.  The 
cone-shape  is  better  adapted  to  regions  of  rain  and  light  melting 
snow,  both  of  which  must  be  shed;  while  the  flat  roofs  are  fre¬ 
quent  in  desert  or  arid  regions. 

Social  environment  was  shown  to  affect  the  selection  of 
materials  and  the  shape  of  the  house  to  such  an  extent  that  in 
some  places  the  result  is  not  appropriate,  and,  indeed,  is  not  at 
all  in  accord  with  the  physical  environment.  Some  attention 
was  given  to  social  organization  as  shown  by  habitations,  which 
are  in  many  instances  simply  for  a  single  family,  while  in  others 
they  are  constructed  for  the  use  of  a  whole  community. 

The  study  of  houses  illustrated  that  the  final  adoption  and 
general  use  of  an  invention  seem  to  depend  more  on  the  his¬ 
torical  relations  of  a  people  than  upon  an  independent  evolu¬ 
tion  of  the  invention.  The  house  of  the  Navaho  is  perhaps  a 
good  example  of  this;  for  these  people  have  preserved,  in  a 
country  where  flat-topped  pueblos  seem  to  be  the  more  natural 
and  common  form  of  construction,  a  type  of  architecture  shared 
with  more  northern  tribes.  Tradition  has  effected  the  survival 
of  their  archaic  style,  and  they  have  not  evolved  any  vitally  new 


508  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


feature  since  taking  up  their  abode  in  the  arid  Southwest.  The 
general  type  of  house  used  by  the  Navaho  may  be  found  from 
Siberia  to  Arizona,  throughout  a  region  where  houses  of  va¬ 
rious  other  types  might  equally  well  have  evolved,  —  a  fact 
explained  by  the  supposition  that  many  of  the  peoples  through¬ 
out  this  area  have  derived  this  type  of  structure  from  a  common 
source. 

On  taking  up  clothing  as  a  sort  of  personal  shelter,  it  was 
suggested  that  clothing  possibly  originated  in  cold  countries, 
because  of  a  need  for  protection  against  the  climate;  while  the 
painting  of  the  body  perhaps  came  to  be  practised  in  torrid 
regions  for  protection  from  the  effects  of  sunshine  and  against 
insects.  Yet  in  most  places  the  origin  of  clothing  is  obscure,  and 
may  have  developed  quite  as  much  from  a  taste  for  decoration 
as  from  a  desire  for  physical  comfort.  It  has  certainly  not  de¬ 
veloped  from  the  feeling  of  modesty. 

It  was  pointed  out  that  the  materials  used  for  clothing  are 
determined  somewhat  by  the  climate.  Animal  materials,  such 
as  fur  and  wool,  are  used  in  greater  proportion  in  cold  coun¬ 
tries;  plant  products,  in  temperate  regions;  and  paint  and 
tattooing,  in  tropical  regions,  where  these  applications  for  deco¬ 
rative  purposes  can  be  readily  seen,  since  the  body  does  not 
require  protective  garments.  A  great  range  of  materials  was 
enumerated,  including  skins  of  beasts,  birds,  reptiles,  and  fish; 
hair,  wool,  silk,  leaves,  bark,  and  a  variety  of  plant  fibers  and 
roots;  gold,  silver,  and  asbestos. 

In  some  cases  the  clothing  is  made  of  materials  held  to¬ 
gether  by  their  own  natural  texture,  as  in  the  case  of  skin  and 
bark.  In  other  instances  it  is  woven,  as  in  the  example  of  strips 


PRIMITIVE  INDUSTRIES 


509 


of  skin,  wool,  silk,  cotton,  and  the  like.  Woven  fabrics  become 
more  and  more  common  as  one  passes  from  an  arctic  region 
towards  a  tropical  region. 

The  tools  used  in  making  clothing  were  illustrated  with 
specimens;  and  the  various  parts  of  the  costume  —  such  as  head¬ 
dress,  shirts,  skirts,  trousers,  moccasins,  and  muffs  —  were  also 

shown. 

Different  tribes  use  different  kinds  of  clothing,  not  only 
because  of  their  material  environment,  but  because  of  the  tradi¬ 
tional  customs  of  their  people  and  of  neighboring  tribes.  It  was 
pointed  out  that  special  clothing  is  used  for  certain  ranks  of 
people  as  well  as  for  special  occasions,  such  as  ceremonials. 

In  discussing  basketry,  attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that 
the  textile  used  was  usually  a  coarse  material  woven  or  sewed 
into  the  form  of  the  object  desired,  and  that  it  differs  from  cloth 
in  that  the  latter  is  usually  woven  from  softer  and  more  flexible 
material  into  large  pieces  which  are  often  intended  to  be  cut 
to  form  a  finished  object.  Moreover,  basketry  is  usually  made 
by  hand,  while  cloth  is  mostly  made  with  the  aid  of  a  loom, 
either  simple  or  complex. 

Samples  of  materials  used  in  making  basketry,  such  as 
cedar-bark,  spruce-roots,  willow,  palm,  and  bamboo,  were  shown. 
Attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that  all  primitive  basket-makers 
are  experts  in  the  knowledge  of  the  vegetable  materials  which 
may  be  used,  the  season  of  the  year  when  each  should  be  har¬ 
vested,  and  how  it  should  be  prepared  and  preserved. 

The  technique  of  basket-making  was  illustrated  by  means 
of  models  as  well  as  by  specimens,  both  finished  and  in  process 
of  manufacture;  and  the  types  of  technique  were  illustrated  by 


5io  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

a  few  samples  of  the  different  kinds  of  woven  baskets,  such  as 
the  wicker,  twill,  and  twine,  and  by  specimens  of  sewed  or 
coiled  basketry.  Reference  was  made  to  methods  of  beautifying 
these  baskets,  as  by  the  shaping  of  the  product,  by  the  combina¬ 
tion  of  different  weaves  or  stitches,  by  the  introduction  of  ma¬ 
terials  of  different  colors,  by  painting,  and  by  the  insertion  or 
addition  of  materials,  as  in  the  case  of  imbrication,  the  attach¬ 
ment  of  beads,  and  the  insertion  of  feathers. 

Specimens  were  shown  to  illustrate  some  of  the  many  uses 
to  which  basketry  is  put;  as,  for  instance,  mats,  caps,  coffins, 
drums,  traps,  fences,  foot-wear,  balls,  and  fans.  As  in  the  case 
of  many  other  industries  of  primitive  people,  the  uses  as  well 
as  the  materials,  the  technique,  and  the  decorations  of  baskets, 
differ  according  to  physical  and  social  environment. 

The  textile  arts  were  discussed  under  the  three  headings 
of  spinning,  looms,  and  fabrics.  It  was  pointed  out  that  many 
of  the  materials  used  in  weaving  are  first  spun  or  twisted  to¬ 
gether.  Ropes  and  cords  are  also  made  by  twisting,  and  braid¬ 
ing  was  considered  as  akin  to  spinning.  It  was  pointed  out  that 
caterpillars  draw  out  fibers,  and  spiders  make  webs. 

The  various  materials  used  in  spinning  were  illustrated  by 
specimens.  The  method  of  preparation,  including  coloring,  of 
some  of  the  material,  together  with  the  utensils  used,  which  nat¬ 
urally  vary  with  the  materials,  was  presented,  and  the  different 
sorts  of  spindles  used  in  spinning  were  illustrated  by  speci¬ 
mens.  There  are  two  methods  of  spinning,  —  one  hand-twisting 
with  the  fingers,  and  the  other  twisting  by  means  of  a  spindle. 

It  was  pointed  out  that  in  our  own  day,  thread,  cord,  rope, 
and  even  wire  cables  and  insulation,  are  twisted  by  means  of 


PRIMITIVE  INDUSTRIES 


5” 

machinery  which  is  really  an  exceedingly  complicated  and  high¬ 
ly  developed  set  of  spindles.  It  was  shown  that  the  products  of 
spinning  are  made  beautiful,  to  a  certain  extent,  by  dyeing  the 
material  and  by  various  degrees  of  twisting. 

Attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that  ancient  types  of  cords 
have  been  preserved  in  charred  remains  of  textiles,  or  in  other 
ways.  They  may  also  be  studied  from  their  impressions  on 
pottery.  We  may  learn  of  ancient  methods  of  spinning  by  study¬ 
ing  paintings,  sculptures,  or  other  representations  of  ancient 
people  in  the  act  of  spinning. 

With  reference  to  weaving,  it  was  pointed  out  that,  while 
the  simplest  weaving  may  be  executed  with  the  fingers  without 
the  aid  of  a  loom,  most  types  of  weaving,  even  many  done  by 
primitive  people,  are  made  on  a  frame  which  holds  the  strands 
in  place  while  the  weaving  is  done  with  the  fingers  or  with  a 
shuttle,  and,  in  the  more  highly  developed  of  even  primitive 
looms,  with  the  aid  of  heddles,  battens,  and  other  appliances. 
Specimens  of  several  different  looms  and  loom-parts  were  shown. 
Attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that  the  simplest  weaving  is  not 
a  difficult  art,  and  must  have  been  done  in  very  early  times. 
Some  materials  are  woven  without  being  spun,  but  the  art  of 
weaving  was  perhaps  invented  after  that  of  spinning.  Some  of 
the  materials  which  are  not  spun  for  weaving  produce  fabrics 
which  rival  in  excellence  the  best  work  with  spun  material. 

Specimens  of  all  the  simple  weaves  of  cloth  were  exhibited, 
and  seen  to  parallel  most  of  the  more  common  types  of  woven 
basketry.  There  are  also  weaves  peculiar  to  textiles.  It  was 
shown  that  textile  weaving  exhibits  a  marvelous  variety  of  tech¬ 
nique.  The  methods  of  beautifying  cloth  were  illustrated  by 


5 1 2 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


specimens  which  showed  how  the  work  was  accomplished  by 
such  means  as  varying  the  spacing  and  tension  of  warp  and  woof, 
changing  the  weave,  the  number  of  strands  crossed,  and  the  dis¬ 
tance  a  strand  runs,  and  by  introducing  strands  of  different  col¬ 
ors.  Specimens  were  shown  which  illustrated  the  great  variety 
of  geometric  designs,  as  well  as  figures  of  plant  and  animal 
forms,  that  are  produced.  Some  of  these,  from  the  tombs  of 
ancient  Egypt  and  Peru  and  from  such  primitive  peoples  as  the 
Indians  of  the  Great  Lakes  region,  rival  or  surpass  in  both 
technique  and  beauty  (whether  lent  by  weave,  design,  or  color 
combination)  the  best  work  of  our  own  mills. 

The  highest  types  of  our  present-day  looms  were  seen,  by 
comparison  with  the  primitive  looms,  to  be  exactly  like  them 
in  plan,  only  more  complex  in  detail;  so  that,  as  far  as  the  fun¬ 
damentals  of  this  invention  are  concerned,  our  civilization  has 
added  nothing  to  the  work  of  ancient  and  primitive  peoples  in 
this  respect. 

In  discussing  transportation,  attention  was  called  to  several 
aids  to  both  land  and  water  transportation,  such  as  beacons, 
bridges,  roads,  and  canals.  Some  of  the  means  of  transporta¬ 
tion  for  passengers  and  freight  by  water  and  land  were  men¬ 
tioned,  and  attention  was  called  to  the  various  kinds  of  motive 
power  employed,  —  those  furnished  by  man,  animals,  wind, 
water,  gravity,  steam,  electricity,  and  gas.  The  various  means 
of  applying  this  power  from  the  front  and  rear,  together  with 
vehicles  providing  their  own  motive  power,  then  with  motive 
power  adjacent  to  the  vehicle,  and  that  in  which  it  was  carried 
along,  —  were  all  illustrated  by  stereopticon  views. 


PRIMITIVE  INDUSTRIES  513 

Attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that  certain  forms  of  prim¬ 
itive  transportation  still  exist  in  our  higher  centers  of  civiliza¬ 
tion,  as,  for  instance,  the  carrying  of  babies  and  bundles;  while 
in  remote  regions  they  are  exemplified  by  the  use  of  the  pack- 
train,  where  the  amount  of  transportation  and  the  difficulty  of 
the  road  would  not  warrant  the  effort  and  expense  of  installing 
a  more  improved  system.  Considerable  discussion  was  given  to 
the  reasons  for  the  persistence  of  some  of  these  methods  and  for 
the  introduction  of  others.  Transportation  was  also  referred  to 
as  a  means  of  making  peoples  of  various  parts  of  the  world 
acquainted,  and  thereby  developing  an  interchange  of  material 
goods  and  human  sympathies. 

In  discussing  art,  mention  was  first  made  of  the  materials 
and  arts  in  which  the  esthetic  sense  is  expressed,  such  as  stone, 
earth,  metal,  wood,  and  bark;  architecture,  basketry,  and  textiles. 
The  ways  of  expressing  it  were  mentioned,  such  as  incising, 
carving,  inlaying,  modeling,  painting,  tattooing,  and  stitching. 
Consideration  was  given  to  some  of  the  forms  that  may  have 
suggested  certain  types  of  artistic  production,  as,  for  instance, 
the  forms  of  man,  beasts,  shells,  and  plants;  the  markings  of 
various  natural  objects,  such  as  nodes  on  bamboo,  spots  on 
shells,  and  the  mottling  on  leaves;  the  traces  of  manufacture, 
as  the  coils  on  pottery,  or  the  impressions  of  cord,  cord-wrapped 
paddles,  and  of  the  finger-tips.  Certain  forms  of  technique,  as, 
for  instance,  checker  and  twill  weaves,  were  shown  to  control 
certain  lines,  and  in  some  cases  to  have  given  rise  to  an  innumer¬ 
able  number  of  geometric  patterns.  It  is  impossible  to  weave  a 
finely  curved  design  in  coarse  checker  basketry,  while  squares 
are  easily  made.  In  such  work  a  curve  has  to  be  represented 


5i4  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

by  an  angular  figure.  Only  in  very  fine  fabrics  is  the  mesh  so 
small  that  the  angular  outline  is  no  longer  noticeable. 

Considerable  attention  was  given  to  different  types  of  art. 
In  representative  art  the  intent  is  to  represent  certain  objects. 
This  art  may  or  may  not  be  decorative,  and  includes  realistic, 
conventional,  and  pictographic  art.  Sometimes  these  forms 
may  be  geometric.  Decorative  art,  on  the  other  hand,  may  be 
rhythmic,  geometric,  conventional,  realistic,  or  even  pictograph¬ 
ic  or  representative.  Realistic  art  may  or  may  not  be  geometric, 
and  it  may  be  conventionalized  until  it  is  not  recognized  as  any¬ 
thing  more  than  geometric;  while  geometric  designs  may  sug¬ 
gest  certain  realistic  objects,  and  come  to  be  modified  into  more 
or  less  realistic  forms.  Geometric  art  may  or  may  not  be  con¬ 
ventional,  and  sometimes  certain  patterns  have  a  conventional 
meaning  read  into  them.  One  tribe  may  borrow  patterns  from 
another  and  use  them  as  decorative  patterns  without  symbolic 
or  conventional  interpretations;  or  they  may  borrow  symbolism 
and  meaning  with  the  pattern,  or,  as  before  mentioned,  read 
meaning  into  them  of  an  entirely  different  character  from  that 
applied  by  the  tribe  in  which  they  originated. 

Specimens  were  shown  to  illustrate  the  fact  that  a  series  of 
objects  may  be  selected  and  arranged  to  suggest  that  realistic 
art,  by  means  of  conventionalism,  has  given  rise  to  geometric  art, 
or  vice  versa.  When  such  specimens  are  selected  entirely  from 
one  place  and  period  of  time,  it  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to 
determine  which  style  of  art  gave  rise  to  the  other.  Apparently 
both  processes  of  art  development  have  taken  place;  and  to  deter¬ 
mine  in  any  particular  selected  series  which  phase  of  art  ex- 


PRIMITIVE  INDUSTRIES 


515 

pression  led  to  the  other  would  require  a  careful  determination 
of  the  chronology  of  the  specimens  in  the  series. 

Realistic  and  other  figures  are  sometimes  distorted  to  fit  the 
field,  somewhat  as  the  map  of  the  world  is,  when  drawn  on  a 
flat  surface.  For  similar  reasons,  realistic  forms  are  dissected 
and  reassembled  on  a  field  in  another  order.  One  or  more  of  the 
characteristic  features  of  an  animal  or  other  form  are  often  used 
in  a  natural  or  exaggerated  way  to  symbolize  the  form. 

Attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that  some  tribes  decorate 
nearly  all  their  objects,  although  they  have  practically  nothing 
which  is  not  made  for  use,  and  also  to  the  fact  that  sometimes 
artistic  forms  are  made  for  the  sake  of  art.  Sometimes  such 
objects,  after  being  slightly  changed,  are  made  to  serve  a  use¬ 
ful  end. 

It  was  shown  that  an  object  may  be  made  so  that  its  very 
form  is  artistic,  or  again  its  art  treatment  may  be  an  adjunct 
to  a  useful  form  which  in  itself  would  not  be  artistic.  Some¬ 
times  the  shape  of  a  useful  object  is  noticed  to  resemble  the 
form  of  something  quite  different  from  it.  This  meaning  is  then 
read  into  it,  and  by  a  few  slight  changes  which  in  no  way  affect 
its  usefulness,  the  utensil  is  made  to  represent  this  object,  and 
becomes  an  art  form.  It  was  also  pointed  out  that  what  is  con¬ 
sidered  artistic  or  beautiful  by  one  people  may  not  be  so  con¬ 
sidered  by  another. 

On  taking  up  each  subject,  references  were  supplied  to  some 
of  the  literature,  to  museum  specimens,  to  living  authorities,  and 
to  the  places  where  natives  and  artisans  could  be  seen  engaged 
in  the  work.  These  were  referred  to  from  time  to  time  through¬ 
out  the  work  on  the  subject. 


5 1 6  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

The  reviews,  illustrated  with  stereopticon  pictures,  were 
held  at  nearly  regular  intervals  during  the  course.  These  were 
followed  by  series  of  questions  which  covered  the  same  ground, 
and  by  the  preparation  of  papers  in  which  either  questions  had 
to  be  answered,  or  the  entire  subject  covered  by  the  review  had 
to  be  discussed  at  length.  Pictures  were  used  in  the  reviews, 
because  this  method  was  thought  to  be  useful  in  reaching  such 
students  as  are  not  impressed  by  an  oral  presentation  as  thor¬ 
oughly  as  by  visual  instruction. 

While,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  it  was  not  deemed  desirable 
to  illustrate  in  the  course  the  recapitulation  theory,  rather  inter¬ 
esting  results  were  achieved  in  other  directions.  Many  of  the 
students  stated  that  the  work  had  increased  their  respect,  not 
only  for  artisans  in  various  lines  of  work,  but  especially  for  the 
skill  of  primitive  peoples.  In  other  words,  they  came  to  a  reali¬ 
zation  that  our  industries  depend  upon  no  inconsiderable  amount 
of  effort  and  thought  on  the  part  of  countless  people  throughout 
untold  ages. 

Individuals  of  the  white  race,  and  perhaps  this  is  especially 
true  of  the  Americans,  seem  prone  to  view  the  industries  and 
customs  of  other  peoples  as  curious.  They  are  often  inclined 
to  look  upon  other  races,  and  particularly  upon  people  of  a  type 
of  culture  different  from  our  own,  as  lazy,  filthy,  ignorant,  and 
immoral,  if  not  to  attribute  to  them  some  other  low  character¬ 
istics.  It  would  seem  that  anything  which  would  tend  to  cor¬ 
rect  such  impressions,  even  in  the  slightest  way,  would  be  worth 
while. 

An  understanding  of  the  uses  of  objects  employed  by  prim¬ 
itive  people  usually  removes  any  idea  of  those  things  being  cu- 


PRIMITIVE  INDUSTRIES 


5i7 


rious,  and  may  leave  the  impression  that  they  are  the  normal 
outcome  of  the  actual  development  of  human  thought  and 
activity. 

The  proverbially  lazy  Indian,  when  viewed  without  preju¬ 
dice,  is  found  to  be  industrious  in  his  own  lines  of  activity. 
Those  of  us  who  have  endeavored  to  make  baskets  of  fine  tech¬ 
nique,  or  have  engaged  in  kindred  work,  must  appreciate  the 
industry  necessary  to  the  production  of  some  of  the  Aleutian 
Indian  baskets,  as  well  as  those  baskets  made  by  Indian  women 
in  California,  which  have  sold  for  hundreds  of  dollars. 

What  must  the  Hawaiian,  who  bathes  almost  continually, 
think  of  some  white  men  who  bathe  much  less  frequently?  The 
“filthy  Indian,”  in  many  parts  of  the  country  purified  himself 
for  religious  rituals,  and  even  for  the  sake  of  health  and  clean¬ 
liness,  by  means  of  a  vapor  bath  followed  by  a  cold  plunge, 
whereas  a  comparatively  small  proportion  of  our  own  people 
indulge  in  this  especially  effective  type  of  bathing. 

The  so-called  ignorant  Indian  woman,  on  the  average, 
probably  knew  more  of  “botany”  than  our  own  women.  She  not 
only  knew  many  plants,  but  understood  how  to  use  them;  for 
instance,  the  basket-maker  knew  the  fibers  and  stems  best  suited 
for  her  work,  at  what  season  of  the  year  they  should  be  gath¬ 
ered,  and  how  they  should  be  treated.  The  Indian’s  knowledge 
of  “animal  behavior”  might  be  cited  in  this  connection  with  equal 
appropriateness.  Our  general  lack  of  appreciation  of  art,  and 
the  inartistic  method  in  which  the  average  home  is  arranged, 
must  amaze  many  of  the  Japanese;  while  the  lack  of  art  in 
many  of  our  small  and  frontier  homes  and  communities  must 
be  noticed  even  in  comparison  with  those  of  the  average  Indian 


Si8 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


weaver  or  carver.  Our  ignorance  of  good  architecture  might 
have  been  noticeable  to  the  precolumbian  inhabitants  of  Central 
America. 

The  “fanatical  Mohammedans”  of  Arabia,  to  whom  Chris¬ 
tian  nations  send  missionaries,  must  at  least  wonder  whether 
these  missionaries  truly  represent  the  morals  of  those  several  na¬ 
tions  which  have  each  seized  a  portion  of  their  country.  The 
burning  of  negroes  at  the  stake  during  the  past  decade,  and  race- 
riots  in  the  capitals  of  our  states,  north  as  well  as  south,  certainly 
do  not  reflect  credit  upon  the  ethics  of  our  people  of  to-day  in 
the  eyes  of  the  negro;  while  the  long  line  of  broken  treaties  made 
by  our  Government  with  the  red  man  has  long  since  led  him 
to  view  with  contempt,  not  merely  the  principles  of  our  mobs, 
but  those  of  our  government. 

A  study  of  primitive  industries  alone  could  not  be  expected 
to  have  much  effect  on  our  traditional  ideas  of  the  characteristics 
of  other  peoples,  much  less  so,  when  these  studies  are  carried 
on  by  so  small  a  portion  of  our  population  as  students  of  one 
department  in  normal  colleges.  Nevertheless,  however  slight 
might  be  the  result  obtained  in  combating  such  unfair  and  mis¬ 
taken  traditional  ideas,  it  would  seem  worth  an  effort. 

It  is  a  well-proven  anthropological  truth  that  tradition  and 
habit  are  much  stronger  than  reason,  so  much  so,  that  they  com¬ 
pletely  obscure  reason  when  examining  into  practices  which 
have  become  traditional. 

Sociology,  psychology,  economics,  politics,  and  kindred  sub¬ 
jects  would  reach  these  failings  of  ours  practically  and  more 
directly,  perhaps,  than  anthropology,  if  students  and  teachers 
of  these  subjects  were  trained  in  anthropology  and  anthropo- 


PRIMITIVE  INDUSTRIES 


5i9 

logical  methods  sufficiently  well  to  be  able  to  use  the  material 
which  anthropology  has  to  offer  for  research  in  these  branches. 

The  work  as  a  whole  seemed  to  be  useful  chiefly  as  a  culture 
course,  and  incidentally  to  furnish  specific  examples  of  value  as 
illustrations  in  teaching.  The  greatest  response  on  the  part  of 
the  students  seemed  to  be  to  the  inspiration  which  the  course  gave 
them  in  a  direction  not  confined  to  industries  or  even  anthropol¬ 
ogy;  namely,  to  depend  upon  original  research  by  means  of 
actual  observations  of  life  or  museum  specimens  and  the  critical 
use  of  sources  rather  than  upon  the  mere  authority  of  the  teacher 
or  the  text-book. 

There  seemed  to  be  a  tendency  in  the  minds  of  the  students 
to  classify  knowledge  of  industries  in  a  simple  evolutionary 
scheme,  placing  it,  as  it  were,  in  pigeon-holes  of  equal  size  and 
shape,  and  arranged  in  a  row.  The  development  of  civilization 
seemed  to  the  students  to  follow  one  continuous  line,  beginning 
with  the  tree  life,  developing  to  cave  homes,  and  so  on  to  factory 
town  life.  This  idea  the  course  seemed  to  modify,  impressing 
the  fact  that  not  only  the  development  of  our  modern  industries 
from  those  of  primitive  times  has  been  complex,  but  that  other 
matters  are  equally  complex,  that  all  knowledge  must  be  classi¬ 
fied  with  many  cross-references  and  many  relationships,  that  it 
may  be  studied  from  many  view-points,  and  applied  in  many 
ways.  Judging  from  the  impression  made,  it  might  be  hoped 
that  a  longer  course  would  completely  eliminate  the  former 
tendency. 

The  course  seemed  to  be  recognized  as  having  given  a  cer¬ 
tain  benefit  in  that  it  strengthened  the  idea  that  human  need  is 
much  the  same  in  vital  matters  throughout  all  times  and  among 


520 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


all  peoples,  that  fundamental  changes  come  about  slowly,  and 
that  sudden  developments  which  seem  at  times  to  be  of  great 
importance,  are  often  essentially  superficial. 

American  Museum  of  Natural  History 
New  York 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  GERMAN  SOLOMON  ISLANDS 


BY 

George  A.  Dorsey 

ON  the  night  of  July  3,  1908, 1  sailed  from  Brisbane  on  the 
new  and  beautiful  ship  Prinz  Sigismund  of  the  North 
German  Lloyd  Company.  After  a  five  days’  sail  along 
the  Australian  coast,  over  the  lovely  blue  Coral  Sea,  passing  the 
eastern  extremity  of  New  Guinea,  in  plain  sight  of  the  coral  isles 
of  Rosel  and  Adela,  and  always  under  the  bluest  of  skies,  we 
entered,  the  night  of  the  9th,  Saint  George’s  channel,  which  sep¬ 
arates  New  Ireland  from  New  Britain,  and  were  in  the  midst  of 
the  German  possessions  of  the  South  Pacific. 

On  the  following  morning  we  tied  up  alongside  the  wharf 
at  Simpson  Hafen  in  Blanch  bay,  New  Ireland.  During  the 
day  I  paid  a  visit  to  his  Excellency  Dr  Albert  Hahl,  Governor 
of  German  New  Guinea,  at  Herbertshohe,  the  capital.  I 
learned  from  Dr  Hahl  that  he  was  about  to  sail  on  the  little 
government  steamer  for  a  visit  to  remote  parts  of  New  Ireland 
and  adjacent  islands;  and  what  pleased  me  especially  was  that 
he  was  to  visit  the  German  Solomons,  and  that  he  proposed  to 
cross  Bougainville,  which  up  to  that  time  had  never  before  been 
traversed  by  whites.  I  readily  gained  Dr  Hahl’s  assent  to  my 
making  the  journey  with  him,  and  after  spending  a  charming 
week  along  the  coast  of  New  Ireland  we  returned  to  Herberts¬ 
hohe  for  a  short  visit,  and  set  sail  the  same  night,  July  15,  for 


522 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


the  Solomons.  The  following  account  of  this  cruise  is  from 
my  journal. 

This  crew  is  an  interesting  lot — all  naked,  except  for  a 
lava-lava  (red  loin-cloth).  They  are  big,  jolly  black  fellows 
—  really  boys  in  spirit,  if  not  in  age.  They  have  every  kind  of 
tattoo  mark  and  scar  imaginable.  There  are  many  gradations 
in  color;  the  Solomon-isianders  being  the  darkest  (really  black), 
the  Papuans  a  chocolate.  Many  of  them  are  really  fine-looking 
fellows.  Even  now  they  are  singing  and  dancing  on  the  deck 
below,  careless  and  care-free.  The  little  Seestern  is  great. 

During  the  night  the  warm  tropic  rain  fell  in  sheets,  and  the 
wind  howled,  and  the  little  Star  of  the  Sea  rocked  and  tossed  — 
a  grand  good  night  for  sleep.  And  so  I  beat  the  sun  up.  Dark 
clouds  of  varying  density  filled  the  east,  and  up  out  of  this  maze 
rose  the  flame  which  was  reflected  in  the  filmy,  fleecy  clouds 
overhead,  with  the  moon  shining  in  the  west.  Slightly  to  the 
south  was  the  low,  densely  wooded  shore-line  of  Buka,  and  be¬ 
yond  rose  the  lofty  mountains  of  Bougainville.  As  we  drew 
closer  to  Buka,  its  shore  was  seen  to  be  an  abrupt  precipice  of 
coraline  rock,  rising  sheer  out  of  the  water,  in  places  three  hun¬ 
dred  feet  high.  At  places  on  this  table-land  could  be  seen  groves 
of  lofty  coconut-trees  marking  the  sites  of  villages.  Occasional¬ 
ly  there  was  seen  a  narrow  coral-sand  beach,  and  always  could  be 
seen  the  groves  of  very  tall  old  coconut-trees  and  the  houses  of  the 
natives,  and  very  often,  and  in  constantly  increasing  numbers 
as  we  proceeded  south  along  the  eastern  shore  of  Buka,  the  naked 
black  natives  themselves  running  along  the  beach. 

Buka  is  the  westernmost  of  the  Solomon  islands.  It  is 
thickly  inhabited,  but  has  no  white  resident.  One  tried  to  open 


THE  GERMAN  SOLOMON  ISLANDS  523 


a  little  trading-store  on  the  southern  end  of  the  island  last  year, 
but  he  was  promptly  killed  and  eaten.  The  governor,  however, 
keeps  constantly  bringing  to  Herbertshohe  groups  of  young 
fellows,  using  them  for  police-duty  for  a  year  or  more,  and  then 
sending  them  home.  He  has  also  made  a  few  punitive  ex¬ 
peditions,  and  so  the  island  is  now  fairly  pacific.  As  we  had  a 
boy  on  board  to  return  to  his  home,  we  put  in  a  bay  halfway 
down  the  coast.  Out  came  the  natives,  —  five  big  long  canoes ; 
and  three  curious  raft-like  affairs,  each  consisting  of  five  poles 
lashed  together  with  sharpened  ends,  and  on  each  one  of  these 
things  sat  astride,  or  on  his  heels,  a  man  stark  naked.  They  all 
came  out  in  remarkably  quick  time,  considering  that  they  came 
in  the  face  of  a  strong  wind  and  a  heavy  sea.  Big,  brawny, 
gaunt,  black  devils  they  were,  with  a  mop-head  of  hair  (painted 
red,  or  streaked  with  red  so  as  to  form  a  pattern),  sticks  in 
their  noses,  and  rings  in  their  ears.  It  seems  that  in  this  village 
was  a  man  who  claimed  the  power  of  killing  by  sorcery:  so 
he  was  promptly  visited  by  a  chief  from  the  eastern  end  of  the 
island  with  some  of  his  followers,  and  was  killed.  Farther  down 
the  coast  we  dropped  another  Buka  with  a  message  to  the 
offender  to  be  ready  to  surrender  on  our  return,  or  he  would  be 
hunted  out  and  it  would  go  hard  with  him.  Wonderfully  beauti¬ 
ful  is  this  coral  island. 

At  noon  we  turned  into  a  narrow  channel  which  separates 
Buka  from  some  tiny  islands  at  the  north  end  of  Bougainville. 
Canoes,  both  dugout  and  outrigger,  fairly  swarmed  around  the 
boat,  all  filled  with  blacks  to  see  their  friends,  and  trade  taro 
for  “tobac.” 


524 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


At  five  we  were  steaming  back  to  the  east,  then  turned  south, 
and  now  (at  nine  o’clock)  we  are  off  the  coast  of  Bougainville, 
the  largest  and  least  known  of  the  Solomon  islands. 

The  sun  rose  behind  a  cloud-troubled  east,  dark  and 
wild  and  stormy;  but  at  about  seven  it  lighted  up  with  wonderful 
brilliancy  the  lofty  range  of  the  Reiser  Mountains,  with  Balbi, 
the  highest  peak  in  the  whole  archipelago,  towering  aloft  more 
than  ten  thousand  feet.  On  down  the  western  coast  of  Bougain¬ 
ville  we  proceeded,  and  just  outside  the  harbor  of  Kieta  we 
struck  a  very  pretty  rain-squall.  Kieta  harbor,  halfway  down 
the  coast,  is  lovely;  many  small  volcanic  islands  rising  up,  beau¬ 
tifully  wooded.  At  eight  we  anchored  in  front  of  a  new  four- 
year-old  “station,”  with  a  resident  and  trader  and  a  few  houses 
perched  on  the  newly-cleared  hillside,  soon  to  be  covered  with 
a  coconut  plantation. 

While  the  governor  and  Sapper  conferred  with  the  resi¬ 
dent  about  our  land  expedition,  I  took  the  jolly-boat  and  four 
black  boys,  and  pulled  down  to  the  Catholic  mission,  two  miles 
and  a  half  away.  The  mission  is  cocked  up  on  the  side  of  a  hill, 
with  a  beautiful  outlook;  but  the  trail  was  slippery  with  mud 
from  the  rain  (and  still  raining),  and  this  is  the  dry  season. 
I  was  told  that  they  made  a  business  of  selling  curios  at  a  fancy 
price.  They  had  but  little,  and  their  prices  were  high  enough. 
I  got  only  three  things.  The  fathers  belong  to  the  unwashed  sect 
(they  looked  it),  with  long  beards.  Then  I  rowed  across  the 
channel,  and  landed,  amidst  a  coral  garden  on  a  white  beach,  at 
a  large  village  of  about  forty  houses.  Here  I  remained  till  noon, 
returning  at  two  and  not  getting  back  to  the  boat  till  five. 


THE  GERMAN  SOLOMON  ISLANDS  525 


I  had  traded  for  more  than  a  hundred  specimens,  and  had 
had  a  very  busy  and  interesting  day.  One  of  my  purchases 
pleased  me  much.  A  buxom  lass  of  about  sixteen  yams  (“years”) 
had  as  her  only  garment  a  scant  bunch  of  withered  flowers,  which 
she  released  from  her  narrow  girdle  and  gave  to  me  for  a  stick 
of  tobacco.  She  at  once  walked  to  a  near-by  tree  and  plucked 
therefrom  a  long,  bright  red  leaf,  the  stem  of  which  she  tucked 
under  her  belt:  for  another  stick  of  tobacco  I  secured  the  leaf. 
Then  she  got  another  leaf  —  but  my  collection  of  costumes  was 
complete.  Verily,  dress  here  is  ornament. 

The  houses  here  are  built  on  piles,  with  the  entrance  from 
a  veranda  six  feet  wide,  reached  by  a  bamboo  ladder;  pigs, 
and  fireplaces  with  plenty  of  cooking-pots  beneath;  canoes, 
mostly  outrigger,  everywhere,  and  in  course  of  building;  many 
little  structures,  with  evidence  of  fire  in  earthen  vessels,  pre¬ 
sumably  shrines ;  very  little  carving,  but  an  interesting  material 
life;  in  many  great  rough  drums. 

It  is  a  delight  to  be  amongst  these  natives.  They  are  such  a 
clean,  fine-limbed,  healthy  lot  of  animals,  men  and  women,  boys 
and  girls.  They  seem  so  much  cleaner  and  sweeter  than  the 
natives  of  New  Ireland;  especially  is  there  a  marked  absence 
of  skin-diseases,  so  prevalent  among  the  New-I relanders.  Then 
as  to  their  disposition,  nothing  could  be  finer;  nor  could  anything 
exceed  the  beauty  of  their  strong,  healthy  white  teeth,  all  in  per¬ 
fect  alignment.  Their  faces  form  an  interesting  study,  those  of 
the  men  being  scarified  in  minute  lines  closely  placed,  the  whole 
forming  an  intricate  pattern  as  delicate  as  lace-work.  And  yet 
these  people  are  notorious  cannibals. 


S26  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


It  has  been  a  busy  day.  Up  early,  hot  sunshine  every¬ 
where.  Right  after  breakfast,  while  the  governor  and  Sapper 
were  overhauling  baggage  and  packing  knapsacks,  the  chief 
mate  (Pagenstecher)  and  the  chief  engineer  (Bishoff)  and  I 
went  in  the  jolly-boat  with  four  boys  to  the  Mission  point  where 
we  landed  through  the  surf,  and  walked  along  a  grassy  path  by 
the  beach  for  three  miles,  a  wonderfully  beautiful  walk  close  to 
tropical  nature,  —  lofty  trees  with  stately  trunks  and  hanging 
rattan  straight  as  an  arrow  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and  as 
thick  at  the  top  as  at  the  bottom;  great  white,  crested  cockatoos 
and  big  eagles  and  bright-colored  birds;  on  to  the  native  village 
of  Taborai,  with  big  houses  very  high  off  the  ground,  on  massive 
timbers;  a  big  dance-house  with  enormous  drums;  and  many 
canoes  (outrigger,  as  in  the  village  of  yesterday).  Skin  disease 
prevalent,  also  red  loin-cloth,  nose-pins,  and  big  ear-lobes. 
Bought  many  things,  and  quenched  our  thirst  from  green  coco¬ 
nuts.  Purchases  made  with  stick  tobacco.  Got  two  men  to  take 
us  back  to  the  Mission  point  in  a  canoe.  Curious  sensation  — 
your  seat  within  three  inches  of  the  water,  which  was  delightfully 
blue  —  coral  reefs.  Saw  a  big  turtle:  they  are  worth  as  high 
as  one  hundred  marks  here,  —  just  the  carapace.  Back  to  the 
Seestern  at  one,  tired  and  hungry. 

ACROSS  BOUGAINVILLE 

Called  at  five  o’clock.  Clear,  starry  morning,  the  morning- 
star  big  and  glorious.  Rosy  tints  began  to  play  in  the  east  as 
we  were  rowed  ashore.  Two  big  boat-loads  of  blacks,  and  the 
whites  in  the  long-boat.  The  rosy  east  grew  rosier  behind  dark 
rain-clouds;  and,  as  we  neared  the  shore,  the  pale  bluish-green 


THE  GERMAN  SOLOMON  ISLANDS  527 


sky  between  the  dark-green  mass  of  an  island  and  the  darker 
cloud-masses  above  was  indescribably  beautiful.  Ashore  smoke 
was  rising  from  the  palm-thatched  huts  of  the  natives,  curling 
above  tall  stately  old  palm-trees.  We  land  through  the  surf 
and  our  twenty  soldiers  are  augmented  by  thirty  local  blacks 
who  are  to  serve  as  bearers. 

We  start  off  down  the  beach,  led  by  the  guides  followed  by 
soldiers,  then  Professor  Sapper  and  Mr  Doellinger  of  Kieta, 
carriers,  four  more  soldiers,  the  governor  and  myself,  and  four 
more  soldiers.  We  make  a  long  line  and  an  interesting  one. 
Each  soldier  (from  New  Ireland,  most  of  them)  carries  a  Mau¬ 
ser  rifle,  a  canteen,  and  a  knapsack.  Each  bearer  has  a  knap¬ 
sack  on  his  back  and  something  in  his  hand,  —  an  axe,  a  lantern, 
a  folding-cot,  a  camera,  etc.  Soldiers  and  carriers  alike  are 
naked,  except  for  a  loin-cloth  of  red  calico.  The  soldiers  wear 
caps.  All  wear  one  or  more  plaited  arm-bands,  under  which  are 
thrust  a  pipe  and  a  wisp  of  tobacco.  Matches  are  often  carried, 
thrust  in  their  kinky  hair.  A  mile  down  the  beach,  —  while  the 
upper  eastern  sky  continues  to  revel  in  colors,  the  black  clouds 
now  surmounted  by  filmy,  streaky  flames  of  fire,  —  we  cross  a 
small  river  in  native  canoes,  and  at  once  plunge  into  the  forest, 
directing  our  course  toward  the  center  of  the  island.  The  trail  is 
narrow,  and  we  at  once  form  in  single  file,  which  will  hence¬ 
forth  be  maintained  till  we  reach  the  beach  on  the  opposite 
shore. 

After  two  hours’  steady  march  through  a  dense  second- 
growth  forest,  —  never  seeing  the  sun,  never  seeing  ahead  in  the 
line  for  more  than  three  or  four  men,  climbing  up  steadily  and 
gradually,  fording  two  rushing  little  streams,  wading  right 


528  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


through  and  paying  no  attention  to  shoes,  etc.,  — we  pause  to 
blow.  Second-forest  is  a  forest  which  formerly  was  cultivated 
for  taro,  etc.,  but  which  has  lapsed.  It  is  devoid  of  great  trees, 
but  is  often  beautiful,  and  always  very  thick,  even  dense.  Cer¬ 
tain  kinds  of  native  forest-trees  are  never  cleared,  especially  the 
canaria  almond,  which  bears  a  nut  with  a  hard  shell  and  a  kernel 
inside  like  an  almond,  but  larger  and  of  a  different  shape.  Our 
halting  place  is  a  great  rocky  ledge  by  the  side  of  a  broad  river, 
which  we  wade  through.  In  good  sight  now  is  the  towering 
wall  of  rock  mountains  over  which  we  must  make  our  way. 
The  crooning  of  several  kinds  of  wild  pigeons  is  always  heard, 
and  we  have  seen  many  and  heard  many  more  varieties  of  par¬ 
rots,  parroquets,  and  cockatoos. 

After  fifteen  minutes,  on  we  go,  the  trail  darker,  steeper, 
more  slippery.  At  ten  we  reach  the  village  of  Bakawori,  a  few 
houses  perched  on  an  easily  defended  plateau,  houses  on  piles, 
and  now  abandoned,  as  these  people  refused  to  yield  to  the  ma¬ 
gistrate  (Doellinger) ,  and  fled  to  the  mountains.  We  can  see  the 
smoke  of  their  fire  on  a  lofty,  steep-sided  peak  off  to  our  right, 
where  they  have  taken  up  an  abode  in  defiance.  To  meet  them 
alone  would  spell  death.  Their  garden,  or  plantation,  is  an 
interesting  example  of  native  agriculture,  —  taro,  banana,  coco¬ 
nuts,  and  yams  in  a  little  rough  clearing;  about  the  clearings  are 
the  canaria  and  bread-fruit  trees  of  the  original  forest.  While 
we  rested  for  twenty  minutes  under  the  pile  houses  it  rained,  and 
rained  hard.  Below  us  we  had  a  view  over  the  green  tops  of 
the  forest,  and  beyond  the  sea,  —  the  first  far-away  view  we  had 
had  of  the  sea,  for  almost  always  one  can  see  but  a  few  feet  away 
in  the  forest. 


THE  GERMAN  SOLOMON  ISLANDS  529 


Leaving  the  deserted  village  with  its  graceful  coconut  trees 
and  feathery  bamboo,  we  push  on  again  in  a  gentle  rain ;  but  we 
don’t  mind,  for  we  are  already  damp  from  sweat  and  wading 
(we  haven’t  on  much  to  get  wet,  —  a  net  shirt,  khaki  trousers, 
shoes,  and  leggings),  and  each  of  us  carries  a  revolver  strapped 
about  his  waist,  and  it  and  the  cartridge-box  get  heavier  every 
minute.  Oh,  we  are  all  a  strange  lot,  —  men  with  bushy  red- 
painted  hair,  tattooed  and  scarified,  with  nose-pins  and  earrings, 
etc.  Some  of  them  have  assisted  in  eating  their  fellow-men. 
We  soon  pass  by  another  plantation,  —  a  little  cleared  patch 
with  taro,  yams,  bananas,  sweet-potatoes,  and  a  vegetable  used 
as  we  use  spinach,  and  tapioca  and  sugarcane,  all  growing  in 
primitive  confusion  without  white  assistance  or  influence,  sur¬ 
rounded  by  a  bamboo  fence  to  keep  out  the  pigs,  feral  and  do¬ 
mestic.  On  beyond  the  ravine  and  garden  we  begin  more  real 
climbing,  —  hot  and  steamy,  up  and  up,  over  slippery  rocks,  roots 
of  trees,  often  using  both  hands  to  crawl  up,  or  steadying  our¬ 
selves  with  a  bamboo  staff.  We  cross  a  dark,  gloomy,  canyon¬ 
like  ravine  with  a  wild  rushing  waterfall  pouring  forth  from 
among  the  rocks,  with  lovely  tree-ferns  and  stately  crocuses  in 
flower.  Only  rarely  do  we  pierce  the  thick,  overhead  canopy  of 
dark  green,  and  see  the  sun  shining  now  fiercely  overhead. 

At  half-past  twelve  we  have  done  our  first  day’s  march,  and 
stop  at  Kape,  —  a  few  houses  on  an  almost  inaccessible  mountain- 
spur  at  an  elevation  of  eighteen  hundred  feet.  In  six  hours  we 
have  walked  seven  miles.  This  will  give  some  idea  of  the  diffi¬ 
culty  of  our  march,  for  we  have  pushed  on  as  fast  as  we  could. 
The  natives  all  flee  on  our  arrival.  Later  the  men  —  wild-look¬ 
ing,  naked  creatures  —  venture  back  with  frightened  counte- 


530 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


nances.  But  not  a  woman  or  a  child  do  we  see  at  Rape.  About 
us  are  taro,  banana,  and  bread-fruit.  Elevation  too  great  for 
coconut.  We  select  an  open,  shed-like  house  for  our  quarters, 
throw  out  the  rubbish,  spread  banana-leaves  on  the  floor,  open 
our  cots,  lunch  on  sandwiches,  and  take  a  nap.  Shirts  and 
trousers  are  given  the  boys  from  the  knapsacks;  for  the  air  is 
fresher  than  below,  and  they  have  no  blankets.  We  have  al¬ 
ready  got  into  fresh  clothes,  and  hung  our  wet  ones  up  to  dry. 
It  began  to  rain  immediately  on  our  arrival,  and  continued  well 
into  the  night  —  and  this,  again,  is  the  dry  season.  We  dine  in 
primitive  fashion  at  six,  on  soup,  biscuit,  and  tea.  To  every 
three  men  is  given  a  tin  of  bullamacow  (pidgin-English  for 
“bull  and  cow,”  i.e.,  canned  meat)  and  plenty  of  rice.  We  turn 
in  early,  and  sleep  like  logs,  with  our  revolvers  under  our  heads, 
and  sentries  outside,  —  the  boys  sleeping  on  the  bare  floors  of  the 
native  houses,  twenty  or  more  to  a  house,  —  to  the  music  of 
countless  frogs  and  insects. 

Stiff  and  sore.  We  breakfast  by  candle,  on  coffee  and  sau¬ 
sage,  the  chief  in  the  preparation  of  which  is  the  governor,  who 
is  tireless  and  a  regular  slasher.  Clear,  starry  sky,  and,  before 
the  sun  has  appeared  above  the  forests,  we  have  left  the  village, 
I  with  three  stone  axes  in  my  knapsack.  Saw  a  curious  roaster 
for  canaria-nuts.  Off  into  the  gloom,  passing  the  ivory-nut 
palm,  the  leaves  of  which  are  used  for  house-thatching,  and  the 
wild  Piper  methysticum ,  used  in  Polynesia  for  the  manufacture 
of  kava. 

We  descend  from  the  village  by  a  steep,  slippery  trail,  for 
about  two  hundred  feet,  over  a  fearful  road,  to  a  rocky  torrent  in 
a  dark  glen,  then  climb  steadily  till  half-past  eight,  by  a  very 


THE  GERMAN  SOLOMON  ISLANDS  531 


steep  trail,  up  and  up.  See  Manila  hemp  ( Musa  textalis)  grow¬ 
ing  wild,  big  lovely  begonias,  and  a  wealth  of  mosses,  lichens,  and 
ferns.  We  stop  a  moment  to  get  breath  —  now  about  three  thou¬ 
sand  feet  high.  No  more  cooing  pigeons,  or  cries  of  cockatoos. 
The  silent  bloom  of  the  forest,  for  we  are  now  in  virgin  forest 
never  touched  by  hand  of  man,  is  oppressive  and  impressive. 
We  have  reached  the  limit  of  the  possibility  of  growing  taro. 
Up  and  up,  crawling  and  climbing  over  rocks  and  roots,  and  in 
the  mud,  but  among  beautiful  tree-ferns,  and  giant  trees  with 
creepers  and  weird  epiphytes  which  embrace  trees,  only  eventual¬ 
ly  to  strangle  them.  No  sound  but  the  endless  chirp  of  insects, 
or  occasionally  the  weird  cry  of  a  hornbill. 

At  half-past  nine  we  pause  for  a  few  moments  to  blow,  at  an 
elevation  of  about  five  thousand  feet,  with  a  rare,  marvellously 
beautiful  view  over  rolling  billowy  forest  below  us,  with  the 
island-studded  blue  sea  beyond.  On  again,  up,  up,  toward  the 
crest,  through  forests  of  great  pandanus  and  feathery  bamboo, 
every  inch  of  ground  covered  with  fern,  every  tree,  limb,  and 
branch  coated  with  damp,  thick  moss.  No  tree-ferns  now;  the 
odor  of  damp,  decaying  vegetation ;  dark,  quiet,  cool,  fresh,  the 
croaking  of  frogs;  we  twist  in  and  out  and  around  the  stems  of 
the  pandanus,  which  seem  like  the  ribs  of  an  umbrella  or  the  arms 
of  an  octopus.  Over  a  gentle  crest ;  down  a  little  embryo  torrent, 
in  which  we  slake  our  thirst,  and  fill  our  canteens;  and  again  up 
through  a  drizzle  of  a  fog;  and  again  down  a  gentle  slope,  over 
another  stream  and  again  up ;  and  at  an  elevation  of  fifty-two 
hundred  feet  we  stand  on  the  summit  of  the  watershed  of  Bou¬ 
gainville,  and  we  cannot  penetrate  in  sight  more  than  twenty  feet 
through  the  forest.  No  pause,  but  on  down  (at  first  gradually, 


532  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

anl  then  for  a  thousand  feet  rapidly)  over  rock,  trees,  stumps, 
roots,  —  an  awful  descent  in  which  hands  are  as  useful  as  feet. 
Suddenly  a  commotion  in  the  line,  lusty  cheering  even,  —  for  the 
men  in  front  of  our  long  line  had,  in  making  a  sharp  turn,  caught 
a  fleeting  glimpse  of  the  sea  far  away  below  and  beyond  us,  — 
and  the  word  is  passed  back,  “Sally  water,  he  come  up!”  Our 
trail  follows  now  rapidly  down,  now  steeply  up,  the  crest  (often 
very  narrow)  of  a  spur;  and  now  we  find  evidence  of  the  hostility 
of  the  interior  savages.  Our  proposed  visit  has  been  anticipated, 
and  at  intervals  our  trail  is  absolutely  blocked  by  trees  which 
have  been  felled  along  and  across  the  path.  This  imposes  a  very 
serious  burden  on  us,  —  the  necessity  of  opening  a  new  trail 
along  the  side  of  the  spur,  and,  as  this  is  narrow  and  steep,  our 
additional  labor  is  very  heavy.  Often  we  have  to  make  a  wide 
down-and-up  detour  to  get  around  some  deep  ravine,  clinging 
with  feet  and  hands,  slipping,  sliding,  struggling ;  but  it  is  cool 
up  here  among  the  cloud-kissed  forests. 

At  twelve  we  halted  on  a  hog-back,  where  the  trail  opened 
out  a  little,  and  in  a  gentle  rain  ate  some  sardines,  biscuit,  and 
jam,  while  the  boys  were  given  a  feast  of  bullamacow. 

After  a  pause  of  half  an  hour  we  move  on  and  up,  and  on 
and  down  (generally  down,  apparently  always  on  the  same 
spur  of  the  mountain,  often  up,  but  eternally  down) ,  our  dif¬ 
ficulty  increases  by  the  way  the  wretches  had  blocked  the  trail. 
At  one  place  we  can  see  off  far  below  us,  on  a  side-spur,  the 
smoke  of  a  village,  the  people  of  which  had  defied  Mr  Dcel- 
linger,  and  who  had  blocked  the  trail.  A  long,  long  afternoon. 
We  march  on,  weary  and  footsore. 


THE  GERMAN  SOLOMON  ISLANDS  533 


It  is  just  darkening  as  we  enter  the  village  of  Diabora, 
a  small  cluster  of  miserable  huts  on  piles,  on  a  little  side- 
spur,  shut  in  on  all  sides  by  dense  forest,  hidden  away  from  the 
world  like  an  eagle’s  nest.  We  are  met  by  a  few  scared,  stark 
naked  savages,  who  can  do  nothing  but  wonder  at  the  strange 
and  mighty  caravan  which  has  come  upon  them.  We  are  se¬ 
cure  in  our  strength  of  numbers,  although  a  tired  and  weary  lot 
we  are.  While  the  boys  get  water  for  their  rice,  we  roll  the  great 
log  signal-drums  (one  of  them  twelve  feet  long)  out  of  the  coun¬ 
cil-house,  spread  our  bamboo-leaves,  open  up  cots,  prepare  our 
soup  and  coffee,  and  get  into  dry  clothes.  I  buy,  for  tobacco, 
pan-pipes,  stone  adzes,  and  spears.  I  see  for  the  first  time  the 
curious  bamboo-leaf  cap  in  which  the  native  of  Bougainville  at 
certain  seasons  thrusts  his  frizzly  locks,  and  pins  the  cone-shaped 
head-covering  on  the  back  of  his  head  with  many  long  spines. 
The  women,  clad  in  a  tiny  leaf-apron,  are  even  more  frightened 
than  the  men,  and  crouch  behind  the  houses  or  doors.  By  eight 
o’clock  we  are  asleep  under  thick  blankets. 

Crawl  out  by  candle-light,  stiffer  and  sorer.  With  two  big 
blisters  on  my  left  foot,  I  take  to  low  shoes,  cutting  away  the 
offending  leather.  Oh  the  poverty  of  these  poor  savages  whose 
highest  glory  is  to  kill  and  eat  a  fellow-man!  Up  here  their 
gardens  are  poorer,  and  they  rely  on  nuts  to  a  greater  extent 
than  the  men  of  the  lowlands.  Their  material  culture  is  scant, 
and  their  entire  decorative  impulse  seems  to  be  expended  on  their 
arrows,  which,  it  should  be  said,  are  wonderfully  beautiful  and 
effective.  We  have  some  difficulty  in  securing  guides,  for  of 
our  entire  party  no  one  has  ever  gone  beyond  this  village.  Be¬ 
yond  this,  no  white  man  has  ever  ventured:  into  this  village 


534 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


only  one  white  man  has  ever  before  entered,  and  he  is  Mr 
Dcellinger,  who  came  with  an  armed  escort.  Five  men  finally 
offer  to  show  our  way  to  the  sea.  So,  after  leaving  a  bundle  of 
sticks  of  negro-head  twist  and  an  axe  (“tomahawk”),  we  start 
off  once  more.  We  had  already  had  a  glimpse  through  the  forest 
of  the  rolling  broken  country  below  us  and  an  apparently  flat 
plain  beyond  that,  and  we  fully  expected  to  reach  the  shore  of 
Kaiserin  Augusta  bay  that  night,  and  perhaps  sleep  on  the 
Seestern.  Little  did  we  know  of  what  lay  between  us  and 
the  seashore.  Rising  up  out  of  the  billowy  forest  of  green  was 
the  volcano  Pagana,  bellowing  forth  great  clouds  of  smoke  from 
one  central  and  many  lesser  mouths. 

For  twenty  minutes  we  climb  up  by  a  muddy,  slippery  trail, 
past  primitive  gardens,  again  to  reach  the  main  crest-trail,  which 
we  follow  for  hours,  now  up,  now  down  (but  always  with  fearful 
steepness),  and  almost  always  through  virgin  forest,  for  clearings 
are  few  and  far  between.  At  half-past  eight  we  hear  the  boom¬ 
ing  of  the  great  log  signal-drums  far  away  on  our  right.  The 
nature  of  the  signal  we  understand  not,  but  of  the  possibility  of 
the  natives  to  signal  from  one  end  of  the  island  to  the  other  there 
is  no  doubt.  On  and  on,  over  ravines  bridged  by  slippery  logs 
(a  poor  trail),  over  roots  and  rocks.  The  forest  resounds  with 
the  cries  of  birds  and  of  locusts  and  other  insects.  Suddenly 
word  is  passed  back,  “Sally  water,  he  come  up,”  which  means 
that  the  sea  is  in  sight.  Four  hours  more  and  we  expect  to  be 
on  the  beach. 

At  half-past  nine  we  come  abruptly  upon  the  little  village 
of  Nimara,  six  houses  on  piles.  The  natives  are  frightened,  and 
we  see  timid  naked  men  and  a  few  naked  women  peering  around 


THE  GERMAN  SOLOMON  ISLANDS  535 


the  corners.  Soon  natives  are  sent  up  coconut-trees,  and  we  are 
guzzling  the  delicious  milk.  The  climber  puts  his  feet  in  a 
loose  rope  noose,  and  literally  walks  up  the  tree  by  an  arm-and- 
foot  motion.  The  skill  of  a  native  in  removing  the  tough  outer 
fiber  of  the  nut  on  a  pointed  stick  thrust  in  the  ground  is  re¬ 
markable,  only  surpassed  by  the  way  he  opens  one  of  its  “eyes,” 
cracks  it,  turns  it  up,  drinks  it  as  he  pours  it  into  his  mouth  in  a 
steady  stream,  or  later  breaks  it  in  halves  without  spilling  a  drop, 
and  gulps  it  down. 

Off  at  ten  o’clock  and  plunge  downward  through  the  forest, 
rich  in  tree-ferns  and  mosses,  and  with  many  beautiful  creamy- 
white  bark  trees  from  which  canoes  are  made.  A  wild  descent 
At  half-past  eleven  we  reach  a  rushing,  roaring  river  rumbling 
over  a  rocky  bed.  Into  it  we  plunge  without  hesitation  and  with 
shoes  (wading  in  water  above  our  knees,  clear  and  cool),  the 
force  of  the  current  making  the  ford  difficult.  We  now  antici¬ 
pate  an  early  termination  of  our  journey,  surely.  We  are  now 
in  the  plain.  On  for  two  hours  along  the  course  of  this  river, 
fording  it  many  times,  often  following  in  its  course  in  water 
from  knee  to  waist  deep,  or  along  its  bank  in  a  flat  clayey  plain, 
in  the  densest  of  jungles.  It  is  now  raining  hard  and  steadily, 
but  we  heed  it  not  —  couldn’t  if  we  would. 

The  forest,  its  wonders,  its  gloomy  beauty,  the  struggle 
for  sunlight,  everything  in  a  life-and-death  struggle,  — -bamboo, 
epiphytes  of  fantastic  shapes,  a  wonderful  canoe-tree,  the  airina , 
white  and  soaring  aloft,  its  roots  rising  up  above,  thin  and  nar¬ 
row,  like  the  buttresses  of  a  cathedral.  I  think  this  the  most 
beautiful  single  tree  I  have  ever  seen.  It  exudes,  in  a  wound, 
a  milk-like  rubber,  but  it  is  worthless.  Much  Manila  hemp. 


536  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Silence,  except  for  the  eternal  crickets  and  the  occasional  rusty- 
hinge-like  cry  of  a  cockatoo,  or  the  wilder  cry  of  a  great  horn- 
bill.  The  day  fades;  we  are  tired  and  hungry;  the  sea  seems  no 
nearer;  on  we  slip  and  slide,  —  over  and  under  fallen  logs, 
through  streams  and  over  them  on  logs.  We  give  up  seeing  the 
beach  this  day;  and  at  three  we  ford  another  torrent  (the 
twentieth  in  less  than  four  hours),  and  by  a  sharp  scramble  up 
a  muddy  wall  (it  is  too  steep  to  be  called  a  bank)  of  five  hun¬ 
dred  feet  in  height.  It  is  a  heart-breaking  climb.  We  want 
to  go  on  and  down,  not  up. 

On  for  an  hour  and  twenty  minutes.  Wet  to  the  last  stitch, 
with  swollen  feet,  and  weary  and  hungry,  we  reach  Kuku,  situ¬ 
ated  on  a  narrow  spur  at  an  elevation  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
feet,  and  consisting  of  three  long,  rough,  palm-thatch  sheds,  the 
temporary  home  of  nut-pickers.  The  huts  afford  shelter  from 
the  rain,  though  they  are  so  low  we  cannot  stand  upright  in 
them.  And  this  is  our  camp  for  the  night.  The  boys  are  given 
their  bullamacow  and  rice.  The  rice  I  see  boiled  in  green  bam¬ 
boo  tubes  over  a  hot  fire.  Confusion  reigns.  The  men  seem 
famished,  and  on  every  hand  is  heard  the  sound  of  the  cracking 
of  nuts.  Before  we  have  broken  our  ten-hour  fast,  it  is  dark,  and 
the  forest  resounds  with  myriads  of  cicadas.  No  stars,  but  no 
rain.  The  milk  of  the  coconut  I  drank  on  my  arrival  here 
seemed  the  sweetest  morsel  I  ever  tasted. 

It  was  interesting  to  watch  the  natives  greet  their  he¬ 
reditary  enemies,  men  who  under  ordinary  circumstances  they 
would  kill  and  eat  should  occasion  offer.  In  two  cases,  men  met 
who  had  been  friends:  they  saluted  each  other  with  a  grin,  and 
by  placing  their  palm  on  the  other’s  chest.  It  is  a  curious  thing 


THE  GERMAN  SOLOMON  ISLANDS  537 


about  these  Bougainville  cannibals,  —  they  will  kill  a  white,  but 
won’t  eat  him,  say  his  flesh  is  salty,  like  “medicine”;  but 
they  are  very  fond  of  Chinamen.  These  natives  here  never  saw 
a  white  man.  Their  open-eyed  interest  in  us  is  curious.  As  I 
make  my  notes  by  a  candle,  four  of  the  naked  chaps  are  squat¬ 
ting  down  outside,  watching  my  every  movement;  each  has  a 
long  spear,  wears  shell  arm-bands,  and  shell  ornaments  fastened 
to  a  cord  about  his  brow.  As  we  approach  sleep,  we  can  hear  the 
far-away  signal-drums. 

The  day  dawns  clear  and  auspicious.  Surely  we  will  reach 
the  sea  to-day.  Pagana  seems  near  by,  and  smokes  furiously: 
the  blue  water  of  the  bay  seems  just  a  little  way  beyond  the 
last  hills  in  sight.  We  are  a  dirty  lot,  no  mistake.  But  the  poor 
natives,  they  seem  a  wretched  lot  indeed.  Inside  one  of  the  long 
huts  I  saw  three  women  and  seven  children,  crouching  on  the 
earthen  floor.  One  of  the  little  children  smokes  furiously  on 
a  big  native-made  block  pipe,  while  one  woman  carries  hers 
thrust  through  the  lobe  of  her  ear,  which  has  been  twisted 
around  once  to  prevent  the  pipe  from  falling  out,  —  a  common 
method  of  carrying  the  pipe,  and  one  I  saw  many  times.  The 
men  are  quite  naked,  except  that  one  has  a  string  of  big  blue  and 
red  glass  beads  around  his  neck.  The  women  wear  only  a  rude 
girdle  with  the  scantiest  of  a  bit  of  narrow  fringe-apron.  These 
mountaineers  seem  less  robust  and  smaller  than  the  coast  people, 
and  the  people  of  Bougainville  seem  not  quite  so  black  as  those 
of  Buka.  They  sleep  on  three  parallel  bamboo  poles  six  feet 
long,  with  a  piece  of  bamboo  for  a  pillow:  a  more  uncomforta¬ 
ble  bed  it  would  be  difficult  to  imagine. 

Yes,  these  people  are  cannibals,  and  rated  as  savages,  and  so 


538  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


they  are  —  rather  wretched  savages  as  compared  with  those  of 
the  coast.  But,  after  all,  their  savagery  is  simply  a  part  of  their 
conception  of  their  unconsciously  developed  scheme  of  life  to 
survive  in  the  struggle  for  existence,  and  their  cannibalism  is  an 
outgrowth  of  a  religious  system  rather  than  a  sign  of  degraded 
mentality.  The  law  of  the  jungle,  here  as  elsewhere,  is  that  one 
knows  only  friends  and  foes ;  and  one  kills,  if  possible,  his  foe,  lest 
he  be  killed;  and  one  eats  his  enemy’s  flesh,  that  one  may  partake 
of  and  so  absorb  something  of  his  ferocity,  which,  added  to  one’s 
own  strength,  makes  one  better  able  to  preserve  one’s  life.  The 
minds  of  these  people  differ  from  ours  only  in  their  contents, 
and  that  differs  because  their  social  environment  has  been  dif¬ 
ferent  from  ours. 

Down  the  awful  ladder-like  trail  (this  one  even  more  abrupt 
than  the  one  we  climbed  to  this  camp) ,  a  beautiful  rushing  river, 
great  trees  arching  it  overhead,  and  trailing  in  the  water  grace¬ 
ful  delicate  lines  of  rattan.  We  see  splendid  cedar  trees 
( Gedralis  Australia ),  not  at  all  like  our  cedars,  yet  a  valuable 
tree.  Then  out  of  the  river-bed  into  a  plain,  and  over  a  gentle 
watershed,  fording  many  small  streams. 

At  half-past  nine  we  reach  the  broad,  clean,  lovely,  swiftly 
flowing  Curaro  river,  on  a  broad  gravel-bank  of  which  we  bask 
in  the  sun,  opening  our  sacks,  and  spreading  our  dirty,  grimy, 
wet  clothes  to  the  bright  sun,  while  we  bathe  in  the  clear  water. 
Even  many  of  the  natives  take  a  wash-up.  The  bright  sun  is 
most  welcome. 

We  follow  this  river  for  a  considerable  distance,  fording  it 
many  times,  and  always  enjoying  its  sunny  openings  and  a  view 
which  is  more  than  the  ten  to  twenty  foot  view  we  had  in  the 


THE  GERMAN  SOLOMON  ISLANDS  539 


forest.  We  leave  the  river  reluctantly.  Turning  up  from  the 
valley  to  the  right,  we  pass  laboriously  through  a  somewhat 
broken,  swampy  plain,  fording  innumerable  small  streams.  The 
forest  here  is  very  dense,  with  many  noble  trees.  Birds  seem 
more  numerous.  We  are  hungry,  but  press  on ;  and  shortly  after 
noon  we  begin  to  climb,  scrambling  up  for  fifteen  minutes;  then 
turn  abruptly  into  a  stream  and  wade  it  for  ten  minutes,  its  bed 
being  solid  rock;  then  up  over  a  very  steep  declivity,  using  our 
hands,  elbows,  and  knees  as  much  as  our  feet.  On  top  we  find 
the  solitary  house  of  some  nut-gatherers,  two  men,  two  women, 
and  a  baby.  One  of  the  women  was  a  particularly  repulsive  crea¬ 
ture,  with  flat  nose,  five  big  tubes  in  her  ears,  and  a  leaf  hanging 
to  a  bark  string  for  the  remainder  of  her  costume.  The  boy’s 
sole  “garment”  was  a  stick  in  the  septum  of  his  nose.  In  the 
house  was  a  plentiful  supply  of  yams  and  much  pottery.  We 
pause  for  only  a  moment,  and  then  continue  to  climb  for  two 
solid  hours,  —  a  heart-breaking,  body-racking  climb;  then, 
when  it  is  too  steep  to  climb,  we  worm  along  the  side  of  a  preci¬ 
pice  which  towers  straight  up  above  us.  This  does  not  look 
much  like  seacoast  country.  Just  here  we  come  to  one  of  the 
most  interesting  trees  I  have  ever  seen.  An  epiphyte,  growing 
from  the  edge  of  the  cliff  above,  had  spread  its  roots  of  massive 
size  down  the  face  of  the  cliff  (and  still  others  out  into  space, 
until  they  reached  the  earth-slope  beneath,  —  a  distance  of  eighty 
feet),  entwining  in  their  course  other  large  trees  like  the  coils  of 
a  mighty  serpent.  We  pass  a  yam-patch  literally  hidden  away 
on  the  steep  slope  beneath  our  trail.  On  we  go,  clinging  to  the 
side  of  the  steep  slippery  face  of  the  wall  by  our  nails.  At  one 
place  the  trail  passes  a  rock  precipice  beneath  us,  giving  us  a 


540  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

marvellous  view  over  hills  and  valleys  beneath  us,  every  foot 
clothed  in  green. 

On,  on,  tired  and  faint;  the  cry  of  a  dog,  the  sight  of  a 
coconut-tree,  —  signs  of  man,  —  most  welcome,  however  savage. 
At  three  forty  we  are  at  Mabulibuli;  and  all  this  awful  day’s 
work  on  two  crackers,  some  sardines,  and  coffee!  For  a  stick  of 
tobacco  I  buy  coconuts.  Never  did  anything  taste  so  sweet.  I 
even  eat  the  insipid  meat  of  the  nut.  The  boys  cry,  “ Seestern , 
he  come  up!”  And  sure  enough,  far  below  us,  over  miles  of 
wooded  plain,  we  can  see  the  smoke  of  our  ship,  but  not  to  be 
gained  to-day.  Everybody  is  at  once  drinking  coco-milk,  and 
cracking  nuts.  The  men  seem  famished,  and  well  they  may,  for 
it  has  been  a  long  day.  Confusion  reigns.  Everybody  busy. 
Out  of  disorder  the  tireless  governor,  and  his  valuable  ally  Mr 
Dcellinger,  bring  cots,  rice,  soup,  coffee,  order,  sentinels,  peace, 
content.  Not  that  anybody  has  complained.  On  the  whole 
march  I  have  heard  not  one  word  of  complaint. 

The  usual  poverty-stricken  village,  scared  men  adorned 
solely  with  a  nose-plug,  and  more  timid  women  clad  in  a  string 
and  a  red  leaf.  By  the  time  we  have  partaken  of  our  “air-tights” 
and  the  men  have  cooked  their  rice  in  the  bamboo  tubes,  it  is 
dark.  Wonderful  night,  with  thick  stars  so  bright!  And  oh 
the  sounds  of  the  night!  —  the  laughter  of  the  blacks,  the  weird 
music  of  pan-pipes,  the  unmelodious  croaking  of  unfamiliar 
frogs,  the  stridulations  of  countless  even  more  unfamiliar  in¬ 
sects.  And,  while  we  recline  on  our  cots,  the  governor  relates 
of  his  endless  store  of  experiences.  What  a  book  he  could 
write!  For  he  has  not  only  witnessed  the  absolute  break-down 
of  cannibalism  and  savagery  on  some  of  these  islands  and  is 


THE  GERMAN  SOLOMON  ISLANDS  541 


seeing  it  disappear  on  others,  but  has  the  intelligence  to  describe 
accurately  what  he  has  seen.  And  then,  again,  Dr  Hahl’s  ex¬ 
perience  here  as  a  colonizer  should  prove  extremely  valuable 
to  the  world  at  large;  for  I  regard  him  as  one  of  the  most  dili¬ 
gent  and  intelligent  students  of  the  duties,  as  well  as  the  privi¬ 
leges,  of  the  white  man  in  the  tropics  that  I  have  ever  known. 
None  the  less  profound  is  his  knowledge  of  European  politics. 
As  he  and  I  have  trudged  along  through  the  forest,  and  over 
the  mountains,  and  through  the  slimy  mire,  we  have  discoursed 
endlessly  of  the  South  Seas,  of  their  fate,  especially  the  sad  fate 
which  awaits  surely  and  irrevocably  the  natives ;  the  shaping  of 
events  in  Europe,  which  is  destined  probably  to  witness  the  di¬ 
minishing  of  England’s  greatness  and  the  growing  power  of  Ger¬ 
many  until  she  shall  have  absorbed  Holland,  Denmark,  and  the 
Scandinavian  peninsula.  My  respect  for  Dr  Hahl  increases 
from  day  to  day.  He  represents  the  highest  and  best  type  of 
modern  German. 

How  we  did  sleep  under  our  thick  blankets !  At  five  o’clock 
the  day  is  ushered  in  by  the  fading  of  the  stars  and  the  song  of 
many  birds,  welcome  after  the  metallic  cry  of  paroquets,  par¬ 
rots,  and  cockatoos.  Tobacco  and  axes  are  given  to  five  men  of 
the  interior  villages,  who  now  return,  not  daring  to  trust  them¬ 
selves  among  their  coast  enemies,  who  would  never  suffer  them 
to  return  to  their  own  country  alive  if  they  went  farther.  Only 
one  of  them  has  ever  ventured  beyond  this  point.  New  guides 
are  secured.  Shall  we  reach  the  sea  to-day?  It  seems  near, 
though  it  is  evident  that  we  are  to  strike  the  bay  far  to  the  north 
of  the  Seestern.  While  we  are  packing  up,  I  make  a  few  pur- 


542 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


chases.  The  houses  are  on  piles,  with  a  log  lower  front,  bamboo 
sides,  and  a  gable-end  with  palm  plaiting,  the  neatest  I  have 
seen. 

At  half-past  six  we  are  off,  down  an  awful  trail,  scrambling, 
creeping,  leaping;  then  ford  the  rock-bed  of  a  little  stream;  then 
through  a  muddy  sweet-potato  field;  and  on  down  into  the  plain 
by  an  extraordinarily  steep  descent.  Yes,  we  are  low  enough 
now.  Through  a  swamp  two  feet  deep,  with  a  rock  wall  on  our 
left,  out  of  which  in  one  place  rushes  a  cascade,  —  a  dark  and 
damp  retreat.  The  line  halts  from  time  to  time:  that  means  we 
have  come  to  a  particularly  bad  spot.  The  swamp  is  too  deep  to 
flounder  through;  it  must  be  crossed  on  some  slippery  log,  often 
hidden  by  a  foot  of  thin  black  mud.  Ever  mindful  of  where 
we  put  our  hands  (for  thorny  rattans  and  saw-tooth  creepers 
abound)  ;  and  ever  mindful  of  our  feet,  lest  we  sprawl  in  the 
mud,  tripped  by  one  of  the  countless  roots  or  creepers,  each 
laughing  at  his  neighbor’s  flounderings,  —  on  we  go  over  a  little 
rise  of  land,  and  down  at  once  into  a  more  fearful  swamp,  up  to 
our  waists,  our  staffs  going  down  eight  feet,  and  our  feet  held  up 
only  by  the  network  of  roots  beneath.  Close  and  hot  and  damp. 
And  this  is  the  “dry”  trail  in  the  “dry”  season! 

Again  a  river,  but  this  one  broad,  silent,  deep.  We  cross  it 
on  a  great  tree  felled  across  it,  and  follow  its  left  bank  for  a 
long  distance,  in  soft  sandy  soil.  Crows  caw  and  the  rain  fails. 
Off  from  the  river,  and  at  half-past  eleven  we  strike  another 
broad,  silent,  deep  river  on  our  left,  with  a  gloriously  beautiful 
banyan  on  its  bank.  We  ford  the  river  on  a  great  log-jam,  and 
on  we  go  into  the  forest  again.  Hotter  and  steamier,  darker  and 
gloomier,  no  sound  but  the  cooing  of  the  pigeons.  We  cross  ten 


THE  GERMAN  SOLOMON  ISLANDS  543 


or  more  small  streams,  wading  or  on  logs,  ever  mindful  of  holes 
by  the  trail  made  to  catch  wild  pigs.  Then  a  mile  of  awful  floun¬ 
dering  in  a  swamp  from  two  to  three  feet  deep,  which  terminates 
in  a  salt-water  swamp  even  fouler  than  the  ones  before,  then  a 
jungle-swamp  of  the  poisonous  ipoh  palm.  But  what  care  we: 
we  have  reached  tidewater,  foul  though  it  may  be.  On  we  go 
for  half  an  hour,  floundering,  splashing,  sloshing. 

At  half-past  two  we  enter  a  plantation  of  taro  and  bananas, 
and  yam  and  ipica ,  bordered  by  luxuriant  wild  hibiscus,  used  as 
fiber  for  lines,  nets,  etc.  And,  ah,  welcome  sound!  we  now  hear 
the  roar  of  the  surf.  Through  another  plantation,  with  a  splen¬ 
did  view  of  Pagana,  still  smoking  furiously;  then  into  a  beauti¬ 
ful  virgin  forest,  the  booming  of  the  surf  louder  and  louder; 
then  native  houses,  the  village  of  Tagas ;  and  then  the  sea,  rolling 
in  as  unconcernedly  as  though  an  expedition  across  Bougainville 
were  a  matter  of  daily  occurrence. 

Off  to  the  north  is  the  ship’s  boat  under  sail.  Impos¬ 
sible  to  land:  so  we  must  walk  four  miles  down  the  beach  to  a 
landing-place  at  the  mouth  of  a  river.  As  we  pause  for  a  moment 
to  get  our  bearings,  our  native  guides  have  brought  out  from 
unknown  sources  rice,  taro,  and  other  edibles.  We  are  still 
hungry.  Our  boots  and  leggings  and  trousers  are  black  with 
slime  and  mud:  so  off  come  foot  and  leg  gear,  and  barefoot  we 
struggle  down  the  beach,  —  a  long,  irregular  line  of  sixty-five. 
A  lovely  walk  between  the  sea  and  feathery  casuarinas.  At  the 
river’s  mouth  I  trade  my  remaining  tobacco,  lava-lava,  etc,  for 
specimens.  Then  Sapper  and  I  board  the  cutter  at  five,  and  de¬ 
vour  food,  the  first  since  daylight  this  morning.  Thirteen  of 
us  are  rowed  down  to  the  Seestern ,  which  we  reach  at  nine 


544 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


o’clock,  tired,  dirty,  hungry.  Two  boats  are  sent  back  for  the 
governor,  Dcellinger,  and  the  remaining  men.  They  get  aboard 
at  four  A.M. 

Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 
Chicago 


THE  PILLARS  OF  HERCULES  AND  CHAUCER’S 

“ TROPHEE ” 

BY 

G.  L.  Kittredge. 

IN  a  famous  passage  of  The  Monk's  Tale,  Chaucer  cites  aTro- 
phee”  as  an  authority  on  Hercules: 

At  bothe  the  worldes  endes,  seith  Trophee, 

In  stede  of  boundes  he  a  piler  sette  (B.  3307-8). 

In  the  Ellesmere  and  in  the  Hengwrt  MS.,  Trophee  is  glossed 
“Ille  vates  Chaldeorum  Tropheus”.  Ignoring  the  gloss  for  the 
present,  we  may  ask  ourselves  where  Chaucer  got  his  informa¬ 
tion  about  the  pillars  of  Hercules.  Professor  Skeat  replies, 
“From  Guido”,1  and  quotes  the  first  book  of  the  His  tori  a  Tro- 
jana  to  support  his  answer.  The  pertinent  passage  in  Guido 
delle  Colonne  runs  as  follows: 

Sed  quod  suorum  [sc.  Herculis]  actuum  longa  narratio  poetarum  longa 
expectatione  animos  auditorum  abstraxit,  ista  de  eo  sufficiant  tetigisse,  cum  et 
rei  veritas  in  tantum  de  sua  victoria  acta  per  mundum  miraculose  diuulget  quod 
vsque  in  hodiernum  diem  vsquequo  victor  apparuit  columne  herculis  testentur  ad 
gades.  Ad  has  columnas  magnus  Macedonius  Alexander,  regis  Philippi  filius, 
qui  et  ipse  de  stirpe  regum  thesalie,  que  macedonia  similiter  dicitur,  fuit  produc- 
tus,  subiugando  sibi  mundum  in  manu  forti  legitur  peruenisse.  Ultra  quas 
non  est  locus  habitabilis,  cum  ibi  sit  mare  magnum,  oceanus  videlicet,  quod 
angustum  locum  ibidem  per  medium  gremium  habitabilis  terre  nostre  seipsum 
infundens  mediterraneum  nobis  ipsum  mare  constituit  per  intrinsecas  mundi  partes 


1  Oxford  Chaucer ,  II,  Iv. 


546  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


a  nobis  nauigabile,  vt  videmus.  Quod,  licet  ab  ipso  loco  infusionem  recipiat, 
effusum  litoribus  siriis  clauditur,  in  quibus  ciuitas  aeon  nostros  potissime  recipit 
nauigantes.  Hunc  locum  angustum,  a  quo  primum  hoc  mediterraneum  mare 
dilabitur,  nostri  hodie  nauigantes  strictum  sibile  nominant.  Et  locus  ille  in  quo 
predicte  columne  Herculis  sunt  affixe  dicitur  saracenica  lingua  saphis,  a  quo  non 
sufficit  vltra  ire.  1 

Now  the  trouble  with  this  passage  is  that  it  by  no  means 
explains  Chaucer’s  words.  In  the  first  place,  Guido  does  not 
speak  of  “bothe  the  worldes  endes”,  but  only  of  the  western  end.2 

1  Ed.  1489,  sig.  a  3,  r°.  I  have  regulated  the  punctuation.  The  passage  is  pretty 
fully  translated,  though  with  amusing  errors,  by  Lydgate,  Troy  Book ,  i,  595-616  (ed.  Ber¬ 
gen,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  I,  29).  See  pp.  565-66,  below. 

2  Guido  was  led  to  mention  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  here  by  a  passage  in  the  Roman 
de  Troie,  vv.  805-810  (ed.  Constans;  vv.  791-6,  ed.  Joly),  where,  however,  Benoit  refers 
not  to  the  pillars  at  Gades  but  to  those  which  Hercules  set  up  in  the  Orient.  Perhaps 
Guido  was  ignorant  of  the  tradition  about  the  Oriental  pillars  and  therefore  understood 
Benoit  to  mean  those  at  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar.  Cf.  Hamilton,  The  Indebtedness  of 
Chaucer’s  Troilus  and  Criseyde  to  Guido  delle  Colonne’s  Historia  Trojana ,  pp.  55-57. 
Perhaps  Guido  had  a  confused  recollection  of  the  passage  in  which  Quintus  Curtius  de¬ 
clares  that  Alexander  intended,  after  subduing  the  East,  to  make  the  circuit  of  the  Medi¬ 
terranean  and  to  carry  his  conquests  as  far  as  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  in  Spain:  “Ipse 
animo  infinita  complexus,  statuerat,  omni  ad  Orientem  maritima  regione  perdomita,  ex 
Syria  petere  Africam,  Carthagini  infensus;  inde,  Numidiae  solitudinibus  peragratis,  cursum 
Gades  dirigere  ( ibi  namque  columnam  Herculis  esse  fama  vulgaverat)  ;  Hispanias  deinde 
.  .  .  adire;  et  praetervehi  Alpes,  Italiaeque  oram,  unde  in  Epirum  brevis  cursus  est”  (x, 
1,  17-18).  Arrian  makes  Alexander  tell  his  soldiers  the  same  thing  in  an  oration: 

Kal  iyii  iiriSd^o}  M  aKeSbcn  re  Kal  tois  ^vp-pagois  rbv  p.bv'\v5u<bv  k6\ttov  fcvfipovv  6vra  rip  UeptriKip, 
t pv  5b  Tpicavlav  ’IvSudp,  aTrb  5b  too  UepaiKov  els  Aifivrjv  TvepurXevodptreTCii  crr6\<p  riPXT^PV  T“ 
pbgpi  ’HpaKXbovs 

(v,  26,  2).  See  also  Arrian,  vii,  1.  Cf.  Anspach,  De  Alexandri  Magni  Expeditione 
Indica ,  1903,  pp.  79,  85,  and  note  271.  According  to  an  apocryphal  story  in  the  Pseudo- 
Callisthenes,  Alexander,  at  the  outset  of  his  career,  actually  invaded  Italy  (i,  29,  ed.  Muller, 
p.  30;  see  especially  Version  A,  in  the  note,  p.  31).  This  story  is  due,  at  least  in  part, 
as  Muller  recognized,  to  confusion  with  the  campaign  of  Alexander’s  maternal  uncle, 
Alexander  Molossus,  the  king  of  Epirus,  against  the  Lucanians  (B.  C.  332).  Julius 
Valerius  (i,  22;  Kuebler,  p.  31)  follows  Pseudo-Callisthenes  A,  and  the  Epitome  (ed. 
Zacher,  p.  28)  preserves  all  that  is  essential  in  the  passage  of  Valerius.  Vincent  of  Beau¬ 
vais  quotes  the  passage  from  the  Epitome,  —  “ex  historia  alexandri  magni”  ( Speculum 
Historiale,  iv,  24,  Venice  ed.  of  1494,  fol.  40  v°).  See  also  the  Historia  de  Preliis,  caps. 
22  and  30  (ed.  Landgraf,  pp.  50-51,  with  the  note),  and  the  later  revision  edited  by 
Zingerle,  cap.  22,  p.  147;  also  the  Middle  English  IV ars  of  Alexander,  vv.  1024-46  (ed. 
Skeat,  pp.  51-52;  Lamprecht’s  Alexander,  ed.  Kinzel,  pp.  80-8 x.  Cf.  Noldeke,  Beitrage  zur 


THE  PILLARS  OF  HERCULES 


547 


Professor  Skeat  tries  to  remove  this  difficulty  by  remarking  that 
“the  expression  ‘both  ends  of  the  world’  refers  to  the  extreme 
points  of  the  continents  of  Europe  and  Africa,  world  standing 
here  for  continent ”.  “The  story  is”,  he  adds,  “that  Hercules 
erected  two  pillars,  Calpe  and  Abyla,  on  the  two  sides  of  the 
Strait  of  Gibraltar”.* 1  This  interpretation  is  forced,  and,  as  we 
shall  soon  see,  cannot  be  entertained.  What  Chaucer  means  is 
“at  the  Eastern  and  the  Western  end  of  the  world” —  the  Oriental 
and  Occidental  limit.  In  the  second  place,  the  passage  from 
Guido  contains  nothing  whatever  that  accounts  for  Chaucer’s 
“Trophee”. 

The  western  pillars  of  Hercules  were,  of  course,  well  known 
to  Chaucer  and  everybody  else.2  He  did  not  need  to  get  infor¬ 
mation  about  them  from  Guido.  The  question  that  confronts 
us  is  rather  that  of  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  in  the  Orient,  which 
Guido  says  nothing  about,  and  which  were  not,  like  those  at  the 

Geschichte  des  Alexanderromans ,  p.  4  (Vienna  Academy  Denkschriften,  Philos.-hist. 
Classe,  XXXVIII,  No.  V,  1890)  ;  Miller,  Zacher’s  Zeitschrift ,  X,  10-12;  Ausfeld,  Der  grie - 
chische  Alexanderroman,  1907,  pp.  44-45,  134-6,  221. 

Justin  (xii,  13,  1)  informs  us  that  when  Alexander  was  returning  to  Babylon,  after  his 
Indian  expedition,  he  got  word,  “legationes  Carthaginiensium  ceterarumque  Africae  civita- 
tium,  sed  et  Hispaniarum,  Siciliae,  Galliae,  Sardiniae,  nonnullas  quoque  ex  Italia  eius  adven- 
tum  Babyloniae  opperiri.”  This  passage  is  quoted  by  Vincent  of  Beauvais  ( Speculum  His- 
toriale,  iv,  63,  Venice  ed.  of  1494,  fol.  44)  and  by  Orosius,  iii,  20,  2  (ed.  Zangemeistcr, 
p.  182). 

1  Notes  on  Canterbury  Tales ,  B.  3307  ( Oxford  Chaucer ,  V,  233). 

2  On  the  Western  Pillars  of  Hercules  see  Pomponius  Mela,  De  Situ  Orbis,  i,  5,  3  (cf. 
ii,  6,  8),  with  the  authors  cited  by  Tzschuck  in  his  edition,  III,  i,  132-6.  Pomponius  is 
quoted  in  full  by  Boccaccio,  De  Genealogia  Decorum,  xiii,  1  (ed.  1511,  fol.  95  v°).  A 
typical  passage  with  regard  to  the  Western  Pillars  may  be  seen  in  Orosius,  i,  2,  7  (ed. 
Zangemeister,  p.  10) :  “Europae  in  Hispania  occidentalis  oceanus  termino  est,  maxime 
ubi  apud  Gades  insulas  Herculis  columnae  visuntur  et  Tyrrheni  maris  faucibus  oceani 
aestus  immittitur”  (“Paer  scyt  se  Wendel-sae  up  of  paem  garsecge  Paer  Ercoles  syla  standaP” 
King  Alfred.  Cf.  Alfred’s  translation  of  i,  2,  94,  ed.  Zangemeister,  p.  35).  “The  Isles 
of  Gades  (‘Insi  Gaid’)  and  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  (‘Colomna  Ercoil’)  are  mentioned 
in  the  Irish  saga  of  Bricrius’s  Feast  ( Fled  Bricrend,  93,  ed.  Henderson,  p.  n8;  Windisch, 
Irische  Texte,  I,  302). 


54B  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


entrance  to  the  Mediterranean,  familiar  to  every  merchant  and 
traveller  of  the  fourteenth  century.  Yet  evidence  about  these 
Eastern  Pillars  is  not  hard  to  find.  Gower  mentions  them  twice 
in  plain  terms: 

El  grant  desert  d’  Ynde  superiour 
Cil  qui  d’  arein  les  deux  pilers  fichoit, 

Danz  Hercules.  —  Traitie,  vii,  I.  1 
This  kniht  the  tuo  pilers  of  bras, 

The  whiche  yit  a  man  mai  finde, 

Sette  up  in  the  desert  of  Ynde; 

That  was  the  worthi  Hercules.  —  Confessio  A  mantis,  iv,  2054  ff.2 

And  there  is  an  illuminating  record  in  the  Roman  de  Troie 
of  Benoit  de  Sainte  More,  an  author  with  whom  both  Chaucer 
and  Gower  were  very  well  acquainted: 

Hercules, 

Cil  qui  sostint  maint  pesant  fais 
E  maint  grant  merveille  fist 
E  maint  felon  jaiant  ocist 
E  les  bones  [bornes]  iluec  ficha 
Ou  Alixandre  les  trova  (iv,  805-10).  3 

It  seems  quite  clear  that  Benoit  got  his  information  about 
the  Oriental  Pillars  from  some  form  of  the  Alexander  legend. 

In  the  R  es  Gestae  Alexandri  of  Julius  Valerius,  written 
probably  in  the  third  or  fourth  century  of  our  era,  there  is  a  long 
extract  from  what  purports  to  be  a  letter  from  Alexander  to  his 
mother,  Olympias,  in  which  the  conqueror  gives  an  account  of 

1  Macaulay,  I,  383. 

2  Pauli,  II,  70;  Macaulay,  II,  356. 

3  Ed.  Constans  (vv.  791-6,  ed.  Joly).  See  p.  546,  note  2,  above,  with  the  reference  to 
Hamilton  there  cited.  On  the  Eastern  Pillars,  cf.  also  Eugene  Talbot,  Essai  sur  la 
Legende  d’Alexandre-le-Grand,  1850,  pp.  167-8;  Berger  de  Xivrey,  Traditions  Teratolo- 
girjues,  1836,  pp.  53-54,  401,  428. 


THE  PILLARS  OF  HERCULES 


549 


his  visit  to  the  “Herculis  stelae”,  about  ninety-five  days’  march 
beyond  Babylon: 

Profectus  ergo  a  Babylone  una  cum  his,  quos  magis  strenuos  in  exercitu 
habebam,  ...  in  ulteriora  regionum  animum  intendi  pervenique  usque  ad 
Herculis  stelas  non  minus  itinere  dierum  ferme  nonaginta  quinque,  fama  de 
Hercule  sic  loquente,  quod  hasce  metas  peregrinationis  suae  fixerit  deus  ille,  qui 
et  duas  stelas,  id  est  titulos  sui  quosdam,  ibidem  dereliquit,  quorum  unus  ex 
auro,  alter  vero  argenteus  habebatur.  Sed  enim  altitudo  eorum  est  titulorum 
cubitis  ferme  quindecim,  crassitudo  vero  in  cubitis  duobus. 


Alexander  could  hardly  believe  that  such  masses  of  precious 
metal  were  solid.  He  stayed  there  some  days  to  refresh  his 
soldiers,  and  amused  himself  by  boring  a  hole  in  the  golden  stela : 

Sacrificatusque  deo  Herculi  titulum  ilium  aureum,  qua  potui,  rimatus  sum 
foramine  per  omnem  crassitudinem  elaborato,  neque  claudicare  fidem  crassitudinis 
eius  inveni.  Sed  cum  cavernam  illam  replere  religiosum  mihi  videretur,  ad 
supplementum  eius  quingentis  auri  talentis  opus  fuit.  1 2 


This  information  was  of  course  derived  by  Julius  Valerius 
from  the  so-called  Pseudo-Callisthenes,  though  the  anecdote  is 
found  in  but  one  version  of  the  Greek  text  of  that  writer: 

THA Qov  eirl  ras  'Hjoa/cAeous  ar^Aas  iv  rjpdpais  kc  ,  £<fja<rav  yap  tov 'HpaxAea  opovi 
TTOiTjcraL  ev  Trj  ^ojpa)  ev  rj  ciropvucro  ^  crrr)Xa<;  (3t t  tt)v  p,iv  ypvcrrjv  tj)v  8c  apyvprjv  y  to  piv 
vif/os  irrfxyiv  ty  f  to  Sc  irAaros  Trqyusv  .  ’E pov  8e  pi]  wicrrcucravros  c"  elcn  <j<t>vprj\a.TOit 
e8o£e  pot  dvaat  rw  'Hpa/cAet  Kat  Ikt pvtrrj<Tat  ptav  rutv  (TTrjXwv  e.pdvrj  8i  pot  oAo^pwros . 
’EycvcTO  8c  pot  TraAiv  avairX-pptdcrai  to  Tpvirrjpxi )  koX  evpWrjcrav  xpvcrol  (a(f>  avaXwOrjvai  ^ 


1  Julius  Valerius,  iii,  49,  ed.  Kuebler  (iii,  Sr,  ed.  Mai). 

2  Pseudo-Callisthenes,  iii,  27,  Version  A.  (ed.  Muller,  p.  139,  note).  The  passage  is 

not  found  in  Versions  B  and  C  (Muller,  ibid.)  ;  cf.  Zacher,  Pseudo-Callisthenes,  1867,  p. 
168;  Meusel,  Jahrbiicher  f.  Class.  Philol.,  Supplementband  V,  784;  Ausfeld,  Der  greichische 
Alexanderroman,  1907,  pp.  105,  195-6.  It  occurs,  however,  in  the  Armenian  translation 
(Raabe,  'laropla  ’A \e£dv8pov.  Die  armenische  Ubersetzung  .  .  .  auf  ihre  mutmasslicke 

Grundlage  zuriickefiihrt,  1896,  p.  95),  and,  with  various  corruptions,  more  or  less  amusing, 
in  the  Syriac  (Budge,  p.  131)  and  the  Ethiopic  (Budge,  pp.  333-3).  Cf.  H.  Becker,  Zur 
Alexandersage,  190 6,  p.  21;  F.  Kampers,  Alexander  der  Grosse  und  die  Idee  des  Weltim- 
■periums  in  Prophetic  und  Sage,  1901,  pp.  126  ff. 

Version  C  of  Pseudo-Callisthenes,  in  another  place  (ii,  34,  Muller,  p.  87),  mentions 


55  o 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  work  of  Julius  Valerius  was,  as  is  well  known,  super¬ 
seded  in  general  circulation,  from  the  ninth  century  on,  by  an 
Epitome ,  of  which  there  are  a  great  many  manuscripts  extant, 
both  in  England  and  on  the  Continent.  In  the  ordinary  text  of 
the  Epitome  the  anecdote  just  referred  to  does  not  appear.* 1  It  is 
found,  however,  in  part,  in  the  Oxford  Epitome.2 

The  Itinerarium  Alexandri  draws  directly  from  Julius 
Valerius  in  its  account  of  this  incident: 

Electo  denique  sibi  ad  ejusmodi  patientiam  comitatu,  ad  Herculis  stelas 
famae  jactantia  persecutes  est  diebus  nonaginta  continuis  emensa  via.  Dignam 
quidem  illam  rem  pretio  tanti  laboris,  si  quis  aurem  ad  fidem  dicentis  inclinet. 
Ii  quippe  tituli  alter  auro  pingui,  alter  argento  proceritudinis  erant  XII  cubito- 
rum,  crassi  vero  per  quadrum  cubitis  binis;  adeo  inmenso  pondere,  ut  ejus  peri- 
culum  ipse  rex  fecerit  terebrata  crassitudine  auri  ejus,  cujus  dampnum  mille 
quingentis  mox  aureis  inferciverit.  3 

two  golden  or^Xat,  one  of  a  man  and  the  other  of  a  woman,  which  Alexander  found  in  the 
Orient,  and  which  he  said  were  the  orjyXat  of  Hercules  and  Semiramis :  Eis ertpav  KarlXa^e 
yfjv,  evda  urr/Xai  el<jTr)K€Laav  Sow  xPvcrah  A^a  t^v  o-vopoz,  p  Sterna  yvvainis-  ah  wepirvy^v '  AXlfavSpos 
eprj-  'HpaicKiws  <jTrj\ai  avrai  Kal  ’2ep.ipAp.eoss  (cf.  Zacher,  Pseudo-Callisthenes,  p.  138;  Ber¬ 
ger  de  Xivrey,  Traditions  Teratologiques,  pp.  338-40).  This  is  in  neither  version  A  nor 
version  B  (see  Muller,  l.  c. ;  Meusel,  p.  761).  C  then  makes  Alexander  find  the  royal  city 
of  Semiramis,  as  to  which  see  Versions  A,  B,  C,  iii,  17,  57;  18,  1  (Muller,  p.  125;  Meusel, 
p.  776;  Ausfeld,  Der  griechische  Alexanderroman,  p.  96);  Julius  Valerius,  iii,  18,  28; 
Zacher,  Pseudo-Callisthenes,  pp.  161-2.  For  altars  of  Semiramis,  see  the  passage  from 
Pliny  quoted  on  p.  554,  below. 

1  See  Zacher,  Julii  Valerii  Epitome,  1867,  pp.  xii-xiii,  61.  For  the  probable  reason 
why  it  was  omitted  see  p.  558,  note  1,  below. 

2  Corpus  Christi  College  Ms.  82.  See  G.  G.  Cillie,  De  Iulii  Valerii  Epitoma  Oxonien- 
si,  1905,  p.  50.  The  Oxford  Epitome  follows  Valerius  pretty  closely  to  the  end  of  the  de¬ 
scription  of  the  stelae,  but  omits  the  account  of  Alexander’s  experiment.  On  the  relation 
of  the  Oxford  Epitome  to  the  full  text  of  Valerius  and  to  the  ordinary  Epitome,  Cillie, 
pp.  ix  ff.,  does  not  agree  with  Paul  Meyer,  Alexandre  le  Grand  dans  la  Litterature 
fran^aise  du  Moyen  Age,  II,  24-26. 

3  Cap.  119  f.,  ed.  Mai,  1817  (pp.  77-78),  ed.  Muller  (in  his  Pseudo-Callisthenes,  p. 
167)  ;  cap.  54,  p.  29,  ed.  Volkmann  (1871).  Cf.  Karl  Kluge,  De  Itinerario  Alexandri,  p. 
28 ;  Zacher,  Pseudo-Callisthenes,  pp.  80-82. 


THE  PILLARS  OF  HERCULES 


S5i 

In  the  Historia  de  Preliis  of  the  Archipresbyter  Leo  of 
Naples,  a  tenth-century  excerpt  of  the  Greek  romance,  the  inci¬ 
dent  appears  in  the  following  shape: 

Venimus  ad  columnas  Eraclii.  Invenimus  columnas  duas,  unam  auream  et 
aliam  argenteam,  habentem  in  longitudine  cubita  duodecim  et  in  latitudine  cubita 
duo.  Perforantes  eas  invenimus  eas  ex  auro.  Paenituit  me,  quod  perforavi  eas 
et  clausi  foramen  illarum  et  posui  ibi  aurum  pensante  solidos  mille  quingenti.  1 

Here  the  form  of  a  letter  to  Olympias  is  preserved.  In  the 
enlarged  and  improved  rifacimento  of  the  Historia  de  Preliis , 
which  probably  dates  from  the  eleventh  century,  and  which  was 
immensely  popular,  the  material  of  the  letter  is  worked  into  the 
narrative  at  an  appropriate  place,2  and  the  “columns”  become 
“statues” : 

Alio  namque  die  amoto  exercitu  pervenit  ad  locum  ubi  erant  statue  due, 
quas  ibi  posuerat  Hercules,  una  aurea  et  alia  argentea,  habentes  in  longitudine 
cubitos  duodecim  et  in  latitudine  cubitos  duos,  vidensque  eas  Alexander  precepit 
perforare  illas,  ut  videret  si  essent  fusiles,  cumque  eas  perforassent  et  invenissent 

1  Ed.  Landgraf,  1885,  p.  130.  This  is  the  oldest  version  of  the  Historia  (preserved  in 
a  Bamberg  MS.).  For  the  different  forms  of  the  work,  see  Landgraf,  pp.  7  ff. ;  Kinzel, 
Zvuei  Recensionen  der  Vita  Alexandri  Magni  interprete  Leone  Archipresbytero  Neapolitano, 
1884;  Kinzel’s  edition  of  Lamprecht’s  Alexander ,  1884,  pp.  xvii  ff. ;  P.  Meyer,  Alexandre 
le  Grand  dans  la  Litterature  Franqaise  du  Moyen  Age,  II  (1866),  pp.  34  ff.,  390  f. ;  O. 
Zingerle,  Die  Quellen  zum  Alexander  des  Rudolf  von  Ems,  1885;  Kuebier,  Romaniscke 
Studien,  vi,  203  ff.  The  most  recent  (and  apparently  the  best)  classification  is  that  of 
Ausfeld  (see  p.  552,  note  1,  below)  ;  but  the  last  word  has  not  yet  been  said. 

2  Cf.  Kinzel,  Zvoei  Recensionen  der  Vita  Alexandri  Magni  interprete  Leone  Archi¬ 
presbytero  Neapolitano,  1884,  pp.  24-30;  Kinzel’s  edition  of  Lamprecht’s  Alexander,  pp. 
xxv-vi,  291;  Skeat,  Wars  of  Alexander,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  p.  3x0,  note  on  v.  4068.  The 
difference  between  the  versions  in  the  point  that  here  concerns  us  may  be  seen  by 
comparing  Landgraf’s  edition,  pp.  129-30,  with  Zingerle’s,  pp.  216,  256.  In  the  ex¬ 
cerpt  in  Ekkehard’s  Chronicon  Universale  we  have:  “Coadunato  autem  populo  suo, 
exiit  et  venit  ad  columnas  Heraclii,  unam  auream,  alteram  argenteam,  habentes  in 
longitudine  cubitos  duodecim,  in  latitudine  duos”  (ed.  Waitz,  Mon.  Germ.  Hist.,  Scriptores, 
VI,  70,  41-42)  ;  cf.  the  Bamberg  Version  of  the  Historia,  and  see  Ausfeld,  Zacher’s  Zeit- 
schrift,  XVIII,  402. 


552 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


eas  fusiles,  precepit  claudere  foramen  illarum  mittensque  ibi  aureos  mille  quin- 
gentos.  1 

The  rather  close  translation  in  the  Middle  English  Wars  of 
Alexander  runs  thus: 

pe  secund  day  with  vp  son,  he  with  his  sowme  nezes, 

Quare  pire  Immages  ere  pat  Arculious,  had  in  an  lie  rerid, 
pe  tane  was  all  athill  gold,  of  siluir  pe  tothire, 

Twelfe  cubettis  fra  pe  topp  doun.  &  twa  was  pe  brede. 

He  made  his  pepill  paim  to  perse,  to  proue  pam  with-in, 

Quethire  pai  ware  hologhe  or  hale.  &  hale  he  pam  fyndis, 

Saze  paim  thike  purze-out.  &  aithire  thrill  stoppis, 

And  fillis  pam  [with]  florentis.  a  fyftene  hundreth.  2 

The  fiction  or  tradition  which  represents  Alexander  as  dis¬ 
covering  Pillars  of  Hercules  in  the  East  is  certainly  no  invention 
of  the  authors  whom  we  have  been  considering.  It  undoubtedly 
goes  back,  in  some  form,  to  the  time  of  Alexander  himself.  The 
conqueror  and  his  warriors  took  considerable  satisfaction  in 
following,  as  they  supposed,  in  the  footsteps  of  Hercules  and 
Dionysus,  with  whom  they  of  course  identified  various  Oriental 
gods  and  heroes  with  whose  relics  or  ceremonies  they  came  in 

1  Cap.  91,  ed.  Zingerle  ( Die  Quellen  zum  Alexander  des  Rudolf  von  Ems,  1885,  p. 

216).  This  is  the  version  called  “Ji”  by  Ausfeld  ( Der  griechische  Alexanderroman,  p. 
22).  Another  version  “J2>”  made  from  “Ji”  under  the  special  influence  of  Orosius,  has 
“due  statue  auree,”  and  omits  “quas  .  .  .  argentea,”  thus  dissociating  Hercules  from 

the  statues  (see  Zingerle’s  note).  Ausfeld  is  inclined  to  think  that  this  dissociation  was 
due  to  Orosius,  i,  2,  7  (see  p.  547,  note  2,  above),  the  reviser  thinking  it  an  error  to 
locate  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  in  the  East  ( Die  Orosius-Recension  der  Historia  Alexandri 
Magni  de  Preliis,  in  Festschrift  der  badischen  Gymnasien,  1886,  p.  105). 

2  Vv.  4067  ff.  (ed.  Skeat,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  p.  225).  Cf.  Ulrich  von  Eschenbach’s 
Alexander,  vv.  21733  ff.  (ed.  Toischer,  pp.  578-9;  see  also  Toischer,  Ueber  die  Alexandreis 
Ulrichs  von  Eschenbach,  Vienna  Academy,  Sitzungsberichte ,  Philos. -hist.  Classe ,  1880, 
XCVII,  324,  372).  See  also  the  Italian  version  of  the  Historia  de  Preliis  published  by  Grion, 
I  Nobili  Fatti  di  Alessandro  Magno,  1872,  p.  125  (cf.  P.  Meyer,  Alexandre  le  Grand, 
I,  xiii). 


THE  PILLARS  OF  HERCULES 


553 


contact.1  On  this  point  the  evidence  is  conclusive  and  undis¬ 
puted.  Arrian  tells  us  that  Alexander  felt  that  he  was  a  rival  of 
Hercules,2  and  he  expressly  mentions  the  story  that  Hercules 
had  vainly  attempted  to  storm  the  Indian  rock  Aornus  as  one  of 
the  reasons  that  led  the  Macedonian  king  to  attack  it.3  The 
same  authority  informs  us  that  Alexander  gladly  credited  the 
legend  that  the  Indian  city  of  Nysa  was  founded  by  Dionysus, 
feeling  pleased  to  think  that  he  had  come  as  far  as  Dionysus  had 
and  was  about  to  go  still  farther.4  Quintus  Curtius  makes  Alex¬ 
ander  promise  his  soldiers  that  they  shall  “pass  the  bounds  of 
Hercules  and  Father  Liber”  and  subdue  the  whole  world; 5  and 
again  he  represents  him  as  beseeching  them  not  to  break  in  his 
hands  the  palm  of  victory  “qua”,  says  Alexander,  “Herculem 
Liberumque,  si  invidia  abfuerit,  aequabo.”  6  Once  more,  when 
his  soldiers  are  murmuring  he  tells  them  that  the  ocean  is  near 
at  hand,  —  “iam  perflare  ad  ipsos  auram  maris:  ne  inviderent 
sibi  laudem  quam  peteret.  Herculis  et  Liberi  patris  terminos 
transituros  illos,  regi  suo  parvo  impendio  immortalitatem 

1  On  the  supposed  Indian  campaign  of  Dionysus  and  its  relations  to  Alexander’s  con¬ 
quests,  see  the  references  given  by  Voigt  in  Roscher,  Ausfiihrl.  Lexicon  der  griech.  u.  rom. 
Mythologie,  I,  i,  1087-9,  and  by  Kaerst  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  I,  1429.  As  to  Hercules  in  India, 
see,  for  example,  Diodorus  Siculus,  ii,  39.  Cf.  also  Sainte-Croix,  Examen  Critique  des 
anciens  Historiens  d’Alexandre-le-Grand,  1804,  2d  ed.,  pp.  389  ff. 

2  iii,  3,  2. 

3  iv,  28,  1-4.  With  his  usual  sobriety,  Arrian  refuses  to  express  a  positive  opinion 
whether  Hercules  ( 6  GtjjScuos  ij  6  Tiipios  6  Alyvirrios )  ever  went  to  India ;  but  he  asserts 
positively  that  Alexander  heard  the  story  and  was  influenced  by  it.  Cf.  Anspach,  De  Alexan- 
dri  Magni  Expeditione  Indica,  1903,  pp.  27  ff.  (especially  notes  80  and  84).  As  to  Aornus 
see  also  Arrian,  iv,  30,  4;  v,  26,  5;  Indica,  5;  Quintus  Curtius,  viii,  11,  2. 

4  iv,  30;  v,  1;  cf.  v,  2,  5;  v,  26,  5;  Indica,  1,  4-5;  5,  9;  Quintus  Curtius,  viii,  10,  11. 
See  Anspach,  pp.  20-21. 

5  “Illos  terrarum  orbis  liberatores,  emensosque  olim  Herculis  et  Liberi  patris  terminos, 
non  Persis  modo,  sed  etiam  omnibus  gentibus  imposituros  iugum”  (iii,  10,  5). 

6  ix,  2,  29. 


554 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


famae  daturos.”  1  There  are  many  other  pertinent  passages,2 
but  the  point  is  too  thoroughly  established  to  require  discussion. 

Actual  boundary-stones  of  Bacchus  are  mentioned  by 
Quintus  Curtius  (vii,  9,  15)  : 

Transierant  [sc.  Macedones]  iam  Liberi  patris  terminos,  quorum  monu- 
menta  lapides  erant  crebris  intervallis  dispositi  arboresque  procerae,  quarum  sti- 
pites  hedera  contexerat.  Sed  Macedonas  ira  longius  provexit. 

The  place  referred  to  is  identified  by  Franz  v.  Schwarz 
with  a  pass  on  the  Mogul-tau,  the  natural  boundary  between 
Sogdiana  and  the  Scythian  desert.3  For  stones,  the  author  of 
the  Metz  Epitome  substitutes  a  column:  “Eos  Macedones  per 
noctem  sequentes  usque  ad  Liberi  Patris  columnam  peruenisse 
dicuntur”.4  Pliny,  speaking  of  the  same  place,  says  that  altars 
erected  by  Hercules  and  Liber  are  to  be  found  there: 

Ultra  [1.  e.  beyond  the  River  Ochus]  Sogdiani,  oppidum  Panda,  et  in 
ultimis  eorum  finibus  Alexandria,  ab  Alexandro  Magno  conditum.  Arae  ibi 
sunt  ab  Hercule  ac  Libero  patre  constitutae,  item  Cyro  et  Samiramide  atque 
Alexandro.  5 

Dionysius  Periegetes,  whose  geographical  poem,  written  in 
the  time  of  Hadrian,  became  extremely  popular  and  was  trans¬ 
lated  by  Rufus  Avienus  and  by  Priscian,  mentions  Pillars  of 
Hercules  at  the  entrance  to  the  Mediterranean  6  and  pillars  of 

1  ix,  4,  21. 

2  See,  for  instance,  Arrian,  v,  3,  4;  vi,  3,  4-5;  vi,  14,  2;  Quintus  Curtius,  viii,  5,  8 
and  11 ;  viii,  10,  1;  ix,  8,  5;  ix,  10,  24. 

3  Alexander  des  Grossen  Feldziige  in  Turkestan,  1893,  pp.  60-61.  Cf.  H.  Becker, 
Zur  Alexandersage,  1894,  P-  *5)  note  J- 

4  §  12,  ed.  Wagner  ( Jahrbiicher  fiir  classische  Philologie,  Supplementband  XXVI, 

99)- 

5  Nat.  Hist.,  vi,  16  (18),  49.  On  these  altars  Harduin  notes  that  they  marked  the 
limits  of  the  world  in  that  direction,  “ut  cum  columnis,  quae  sunt  apud  Gades,  simile 
quiddam  habere  videantur.”  See  F.  v.  Schwartz,  Alexander  des  Grossen  Feldziige  in 
Turkestan,  p.  60;  Anspach,  De  Alexandri  Magni  Expeditione  Indica ,  p.  81,  note  263. 

6  Vv.  64-68  (Bernhardy,  p.  12)  ;  cf.  the  commentary  of  Eustathius  (id.,  pp.  96-97) 
and  the  Scholia  (p.  328).  See  also  Avienus,  Descriptio  Orbis  Terrae,  vv.  98-100  (p.  431); 
Priscian,  Periegesis,  vv.  72-78  (p.  463). 


THE  PILLARS  OF  HERCULES  555 

Dionysus  by  the  ocean  in  the  remotest  mountains  of  India.1 
Priscian,  it  should  be  noted,  translates  Dionysius’s  <rr^Aai  by 
statuae.  The  commentary  of  Eustathius  on  Dionysius  is  import¬ 
ant  for  our  present  investigation.  The  geographer  having  re¬ 
ferred  to  the  Indian  Nyssa  (Nysa)  in  connection  with  the  Pillars 
of  Dionysus,  Eustathius 2  quotes  Arrian’s  account  of  Alexander’s 
visit  to  the  precinct  of  Dionysus  on  Mount  Merus  hard-by.3  He 
also  has  much  to  say  of  the  supposed  expedition  of  Hercules  to 
India,  utilizing  Arrian4  in  his  discussion  of  this  subject  also, 
and  remarking  that  according  to  one  story  Hercules  must  have 
gone  to  both  boundaries  of  the  earth.5 

Pillars  of  Dionysus  in  India  are  also  mentioned  by  Apollo- 
dorus,  but  in  a  passage  which  is  regarded  as  an  interpolation.6 
Servius,  in  a  note  on  “Protei  columnas”  ( Aeneid ,  xi,  262),  re¬ 
marks:  “Columnas  Herculis  legimus  et  in  Ponto  et  in  His- 
pania”.  In  a  letter  to  the  Rhodians,  given  in  the  Metz  Epitome , 
Alexander  is  made  to  mention  an  Eastern  Column  of  Hercules: 
“Nos  ultra  columnam  Herculis  patrii  nostri.  ...”  7 

The  belief  that  Hercules  and  Dionysus  set  up  pillars  or 
other  monuments  in  the  East  was  adverted  to  by  Strabo,  about  the 
beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  in  his  genuinely  scientific  dis¬ 
cussion  of  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  at  the  entrance  to  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean.  Some  think,  he  says,  that  the  points  of  the  strait  are  the 

1  Vv.  623-5,  1161-5  (Bernhardy,  pp.  37,  62)  ;  Eustathius,  pp.  224,  313-314;  Scholia,  p. 
358;  Avienus,  vv.  824-6,  1377-84  (pp.  448,  460);  Priscian,  vv.  616-18,  1057-8  (pp.  475, 
485). 

2  Bernhardy,  pp.  313-15. 

3  Arrian,  v,  2. 

4  v,  3- 

5  0<rre  toStq  T$\6yij>  i(f>'  iKtXTipovs  rip/xovas  yrjs  i\Mv  rbv  'H/>aK\<fo(  Bernhardy,  p.  314). 

6  AieXdwv  Si  Qptfi<r)v,  [«a2  tt)v  ’IvSikt)v  tiwacrav,  <rrr)\a.s  iicei  arr/aa s,]  tfnev  is  Orffias 
( Bibliotheca ,  iii,  2,  1).  See  Hercher’s  edition,  1874. 

7  §  107,  ed.  Wagner,  p.  114. 


556  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Pillars  (to.  aKpa  rov  nopO/xov  ras  SrjyXas  eivai);  others  identify  the  Pillars 
with  to.  rdSupa  (i.  e.  Gades,  Cadiz)  ;  others  suppose  that  they 
lie  outside  of  rd  TdSeipa-,  others  identify  them  with  Mt.  Calpe 
in  Spain  and  Mt.  Abilyca  in  Africa;  others  with  certain  small 
islands  near  these  mountains  ;  others  with  two  bronze  columns 
preserved  in  a  temple  of  Hercules  at  Gadeira,- —  and  so  on.  The 
inquiry,  he  continues,  is  not  unreasonable.1  It  is  likely  enough 
that  Hercules  set  up  something  of  the  sort  as  the  limits  of  the 
inhabited  world  or  of  his  expedition.  For  it  seems  to  have  been 
a  custom  in  old  times  to  erect  memorials  of  this  kind.  And  he 
proceeds  to  give  examples.  “Alexander”,  for  instance  “erected 
altars  as  the  limits  of  his  Indian  campaign  at  the  easternmost 
place  which  he  reached  in  India,  imitating  Hercules  and  Diony¬ 
sus.”  2  Strabo  argues,  therefore,  that  there  may  once  have  been 
real  Pillars  of  Hercules  at  the  entrance  to  the  Mediterranean, 
and  that,  these  having  perished,  the  name  may  have  been  applied 
to  the  places  where  they  stood.  The  Macedonians,  he  says,  ap¬ 
parently  did  not  see  any  actual  pillars  (o-r^at)  of  Hercules  or 
of  Dionysus  in  India.  Yet,  since  certain  places  were  shown  to 
them  which  bore  that  name,  they  identified  with  the  pillars  those 
places  in  which  they  found  evidence  to  substantiate  what  was 
told  of  Dionysus  or  of  Hercules.3 

1  ’  AXXa  fprety  iiri  tG>v  Kovplois  Xeyopivwv  <rrr]\Cjv  to  is  tt)s  oUovpiv-qs  Spovs  rrj  s  <rrparelas  tt\s 
'Hpa/cXiovs  exec  piv  nra  vouv  (iii,  5,  5). 

2  '  AXi^avSpos  Si  Trjs'IvbcKrjs  crTparelas  Upca  fioipobs  idero  iv  tocs  t6ttocs  els  ovs  vcttoctovs  aplccera 
tQv  it pbs  to.cs  ccvoctoXcccs  'ivSCbv,  p-cp.oip.evos  Tbv  'HpoceXia  xai  Tbv  A cbvveov  Jjv  piv  St)  t6  edos  tovto 

(iii,  5,  5).  On  the  altars  erected  by  Alexander  see  Pliny,  Nat.  Hist.,  vi,  17  (21),  62; 
Arrian,  v,  29,  1;  Q.  Curtius,  ix,  3,  19;  Diodorus  Siculus,  xvii,  95,  1;  Plutarch,  Alexander, 
62;  Philostratus,  Vita  Apollonii,  ii,  43;  Metz  Epitome,  69  (ed.  Wagner,  p.  107).  Cf. 
Anspach,  pp.  81-82,  notes  266,  267. 

3  Oudi  iv  Ty’IvScKy  OTr/Xas  cpaalv  bpaOrjvac  Kecpivas  oid'  'HpaieXiovs  oijTe  Acovioov,  KalXeyopivosv 
plvToc  Kai  Secewpivoiv  (twv)  tSttcov  tcvCov  oi  M aeebbves  iirloTevov  Toirovs  elvac  (TT^Xas,  iv  oh  tc  crnpxcov 
elipcoKov  fj  tCjv  trepl  Tbv  Acbvvoov  Icrropovpivcov  r£y  irepi  rbv  'HpaieXia  (iii,  5,  6). 


THE  PILLARS  OF  HERCULES 


557 


Lucian,  in  the  third  century  of  our  era,  ridicules  these 
stories  about  the  Oriental  Pillars  in  his  True  Story.  His  ad¬ 
venturer  sailed  out  into  the  Western  Ocean,  leaving  the  Pillars 
of  Hercules  at  the  entrance  to  the  Mediterranean,  and  after  a 
voyage  of  nearly  three  months,  landed  on  an  island.  Three 
stadia  from  the  shore,  in  the  midst  of  a  wood,  he  found  a  pillar 
of  bronze,  bearing  a  Greek  inscription:  “So  far  came  Hercules 
and  Dionysus”.1  Hard  by  were  two  footprints  in  a  rock,  —  one 
a  plethron  in  length,  the  other  not  so  long.  “And  it  was  my 
opinion”,  adds  the  narrator,  “that  the  shorter  of  the  two  was  the 
footprint  of  Dionysus,  the  other  that  of  Hercules”.2 

Enough  has  probably  been  said  to  make  it  clear  that  Chau¬ 
cer  was  following  a  tradition  of  very  long  standing  when  he 
asserted  that  Hercules  set  up  pillars  at  both  ends  of  the  world, 
— that  is,  at  the  Eastern  end  as  well  as  the  Western. 

Nothing  that  we  have  so  far  considered,  however,  throws 
any  light  upon  Chaucer’s  “Trophee”,  for  there  is  not  a  word  in 
any  of  the  passages  that  we  have  examined  —  either  in  those  that 
(like  the  quotation  from  the  Historia  de  Preliis )  were  accessible 
to  Chaucer,  or  in  those  that  were  not  —  which  affords  us  even  a 
suggestion  of  this  term.  Still,  it  seems  probable  that  we  are  on 
the  right  track.  As  a  mere  word ,  “Trophee”  is  clear  enough. 
It  is  of  course  the  French  trophee ,  Latin  tropaeum  (tropheum) . 
It  is  Chaucer’s  use  of  “Trophee”  as  the  name  of  a  person  that 
causes  all  the  difficulty.  And  that  use,  as  all  are  agreed,  is  the 
result  of  a  misunderstanding,  whether  on  the  poet’s  own  part  or 
on  the  part  of  some  authority  whom  he  is  following.  What  we 
need,  then,  is  a  passage  —  accessible  to  Chaucer  or  his  prede- 


1  " Axpi  toi/tcov  'HpaKXrjs  Kal  Ai6vv<ros  arplKovro. 

2  Vera  Historia,  i,  6-7. 


55B  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


cessors  —  in  which  the  term  tropaea  is  applied  to  either  the 
Occidental  or  the  Oriental  Pillars  of  Hercules  or  to  both. 

Such  a  passage  is  not  hard  to  find.  It  occurs  in  a  text  that 
was  very  familiar  to  mediaeval  writers,  —  the  apocryphal  Epi- 
stola  Alexandri  Macedonis  ad  Aristotelem  Magistrum  suum  de 
Itinere  suo  et  de  Situ  Indiae }  In  this  letter,  Alexander,  after 
an  account  of  his  vanquishing  Porus  and  receiving  him  into 
favor,  tells  how  Porus  guided  him  to  the  farthest  shores  of  the 
East: 

Ast  et  ad  Herculis  Liberique  trophaea  me  deduxit  in  orientis  ultimis  oris; 
aurea  utraque  deorum  constituerat  simulacra.  Quae  an  solida  essent,  ego  scire 
cupiens  omnia  iussi  perforari,  et  id  ipsum  cum  vidissem  solida  esse,  simili  metallo 
complevi  et  Herculem  Liberumque  deiectis  simulacris  victimis  complacavi. 1  2 

The  passage  is  quoted  by  Vincent  of  Beauvais  in  his  Spe¬ 
culum  IAistoriale,  as  follows: 

Ex  epistola  alexandri.  Peruenit  autem  ad  herculis  liberique  trophea  in 

1  The  best  edition  is  that  of  Kuebler  and  Schlee,  appended  to  Kuebler’s  Julius  Vale¬ 
rius  (Leipzig,  1888,  pp.  190-221).  There  is  a  later  version  in  the  Bamberg  MS.  E.  Ill,  14, 
probably  made  independently  from  the  Greek  in  the  tenth  century  (edited  by  Kuebler, 
Romanische  Forscliungen,  VI,  224-37).  The  Epistola  is  not  to  be  confused  with  the  letter 
to  Aristotle  in  Julius  Valerius,  iii,  17,  14-27  (ed.  Kuebler,  pp.  123-35;  ed.  Mai,  1817,  iii, 
23-43,  PP-  1 57-77 ) >  which  is  from  Pseudo-Callistheiies  (version  A,  iii,  17,  ed.  Muller, 
pp.  120-5).  The  Epitome  of  Valerius’s  work  omits  the  letter  just  referred  to  (see  Zacher’s 
edition,  iii,  17,  p.  55),  but,  in  compensation,  the  separate  Epistola  Alexandri  de  Situ  Indiae 
is  very  often  annexed  to  the  Epitome  in  manuscripts  (see,  for  example,  Ward,  Catalogue 
of  Romances,  I,  109-19).  Indeed,  it  seems  to  have  been  the  intention  of  the  epitomator  that 
it  should  be  thus  annexed,  for  he  expressly  refers  his  readers  to  the  “epistola  quam 
[Alexander]  Aristoteli  praeceptori  suo  misit,”  meaning,  we  may  be  sure,  not  the  letter 
which  he  omits  but  the  separate  Epistola  (cf.  Zacher,  Pseudo-Callisthenes,  p.  106).  On  the 
relation  of  the  Epistola  to  the  Alexander  material,  see  especially  H.  Becker,  Zur  Alex- 
andersage ,  1894  ( Alexanders  Brief  iiber  die  IV under  Indiens)  ;  Ausfeld,  Zur  Kritik  des 
griechischen  Alexanderromans,  1894,  pp.  8  ff. ;  H.  Becker,  Zur  Alexandersage,  1906  (Der 
Brief  iiber  die  IV under  Indiens  in  der  Historia  de  Preliis)  ;  Ausfeld,  Der  griechische  Alex- 
anderroman,  1907,  pp.  27-28,  177  ff.  An  Anglo-Saxon  translation  of  the  Epistola  has  been 
edited  by  Cockayne  ( Narratiunculae  Anglice  Conscriptae,  1861,  pp.  1  ff.)  and  by  Baskervill 
( Anglia ,  IV,  139  ff.,  and  separately,  1881). 

2  Kuebler  and  Schlee’s  text,  at  the  end  of  Kuebler’s  edition  of  Julius  Valerius  (1888), 


p.  204. 


THE  PILLARS  OF  HERCULES 


559 


vltimis  finibus  orientis  posita:  vbi  vterque  deus  auri  solidum  habebat  simula- 
chrum:  quod  alexander  explorare  cupiens  fecit  ea  perforari:  et  item  simili  metallo 
repleri.  1 

Here  we  have  the  same  story  that  we  have  already  seen  in 
Julius  Valerius  and  in  the  Historia  de  Preliis2  but  the  monu¬ 
ments  are  called  trophaea,  not  stelae  (as  in  Valerius)  or  co- 
lumnae  or  statuae  (as  in  the  Historia ). 

The  Epistola  Alexandri  is  evidently  one  of  the  sources  of 
the  following  observations  on  Hercules,  in  which  the  unknown 
compiler  of  a  sixth-century  Wonder-Book  associates  the  Western 
Pillars  and  the  Eastern  trophaea : 

Quis  Herculis  fortitudinem  et  arm  a  non  miraretur,  qui  in  occiduis  Thyr- 
reni  maris  faucibis  columnas  mire  magnitudinis  ad  humani  generis  spectaculum 
erexit,  quique  bellorum  suorum  tropea  in  Oriente  juxta  Oceanum  indicum  ad 
posteritatis  memoriam  construxit?3 

I  venture  to  suggest  that  this  same  passage  of  the  Epistola 
Alexandri  is,  in  some  way,  the  starting-point  for  Chaucer’s  “Tro- 
phee”.  No  doubt  if  Chaucer  had  had  an  accurate  text  of  the 

1  iv,  55  (Venice,  1494,  fol.  43  v°).  It  is  interesting  to  observe  the  way  in  which  the 
Old  French  romance  of  Alexandre  by  Lambert  li  Tort  and  Alexandre  de  Paris  has  treated 
this  incident  (see  Michelant’s  edition,  p.  316,  11.  24-27;  p.  317,  11.  4-8;  p.  318,  1.  37-p.  319, 
1.  3).  The  romance  speaks  of  the  “bornes  Arcu”  or  “Ercu”  (Hercules),  and  Liber  has  be¬ 
come  Libis.  Cf.  P.  Meyer,  Alexandre  le  Grand ,  II,  170  if.  For  the  “bones  Arcu,”  see  also 
Michel  ant,  p.  3,  11.  29-31;  p.  300,  11.  15-17. 

2  See  pp.  549,  551,  above. 

3  De  Monstris,  etc.,  i  14  ( Ulysse  Robert,  Les  Fables  de  Phedre,  edition  paleographique 
publiee  d’apres  le  Manuscrit  Rosanbo,  1893,  p.  154;  Berger  de  Xivrey,  Traditions 
Teratologiques,  1836,  p.  53).  The  treatise  is  assigned  to  the  sixth  century  by  Berger  de 
Xivrey  (p.  xxxiv),  and  Robert  (p.  xli)  assents.  The  manuscript  which  contains  it  is  the 
celebrated  Pithou  (later  the  Rosanbo)  MS.  of  Phaedrus.  The  Fables  are  in  an  early  ninth- 
century  hand  (Robert,  p.  xiii),  the  Wonder-Book  is  in  a  hand  that  is  only  a  trifle  later  (pp. 
xii,  xli  ff.).  The  same  treatise  is  contained  in  the  Codex  Wisseburgensis  of  Phaedrus 
(Wolfenbiittel,  “Gud.  148”):  see  Haupt,  in  his  Zeitschrift,  V,  10;  Miillenhoff,  Haupt’s 
Zeitsckrift,  XII,  287;  Hervieux,  Les  Fabulistes  Latins ,  I  (1884),  245  if.;  Robert,  p.  xliv. 


560  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Epistola  1  before  him  when  he  wrote  The  Monk's  Tale,  or  even 
an  accurate  copy  of  the  extracts  that  are  made  by  Vincent  of 
Beauvais,  he  would  not  have  transmogrified  trophea  into  a  per¬ 
son.  But,  although  he  may  have  read  the  Epistola  once  upon  a 
time,  and  although  we  are  certain  that  he  knew  Vincent  (or  at 
least  that  he  refers  to  him),2  we  are  not  to  suppose  that  he  had 
either  of  these  authorities  at  hand  for  steady  and  repeated  con¬ 
sultation.  No  one  who  is  acquainted  with  the  possibilities  of 
confusion  which  beset  mediaeval  scribes  and  readers,  or  who 
has  even  a  faint  conception  of  the  blunders  of  which  he  himself 
( pace  tanti  viri  dixerim!)  might  be  capable  if  he  were  depend¬ 
ent  on  his  memory  alone  for  quotations  and  references,  will 
be  surprised  that  out  of  the  passage  concerning  the  “Herculis 
Liberique  trophea”  there  should  have  grown  up  —  by  a  series 
of  corruptions,  mistranslations,  and  mnemonic  lapses  —  the  no- 

1  The  Epistola  goes  on  to  tell  how  Alexander  proceeded  to  the  ocean.  “Quern  quo- 
nlam  tenebrosum  vadosumque  mihi  locorum  incolae  affirmabant  et  quod  Herculi  et  Libero 
ultra  visum  non  esset  accedere,  praestantissimis  diis,  tanto  maiorem  me  ipsis  videri  dicebant, 
quanto  patientiam  immortalium  et  sacra  praeterirem  vestigia”  (Kuebler,  pp.  204-5).  In 
the  course  of  his  further  adventures,  Alexander  speaks  of  the  fear  felt  by  his  men  that  he 
had  incurred  the  wrath  of  the  gods  “quod  homo  Herculis  Liberique  vestigia  transgredi 
conatus  essem”  (p.  208).  He  also  saw  the  “antrum  Liberi”  (Anglo-Saxon  “]?;Et  scnef  Libri 
paes  godes,”  Baskervill,  p.  24,  1.  562),  and  lost  several  men  who  entered  it  (p.  209). 
“Supplex  orabam  numina,  ut  me  regem  totius  orbis  terrarum  cum  sublimibus  trophaeis 
triumphantem  in  Macedonian!  Olympiad!  matri  meae  remitterent”  (p.  209).  Finally  he 
returned  to  Phasiace.  “Ibique  legato  meo  praecepi,  quem  praesidio  praeposueram  nomine 
Alticonem,  ut  poneret  Persarumque  et  Babyloniorum  pilas  solidas  aureas  duas  pedum 
vicenum  quinum  et  in  his  omnia  facta  scriberet  faceretque  eadem  in  ultima  India  ultra 
Liberi  et  Herculis  trophaea,  quorum  centum  erantj  quae  et  ego  quinque  mea  aeque  aurea 
eis  altiora  denis  pedibus  statui  et  in  eis  victorias  atque  itinera  nostra  describere  imperavi” 
(p.  220).  The  passage  about  the  wrath  of  the  gods  (p.  208)  is  quoted  by  Vincent  as 
follows:  “Dicebant  milites  iram  esse  deorum  eo  quod  alexander  ausus  esset  transgredi 
herculis  et  liberi  metas”  (Spec.  Hist.,  iv,  55,  Venice,  1494,  fol.  43  v°).  Vincent  also  quotes 
a  part  of  the  passage  in  which  Alexander  gives  Altico  his  instructions,  including  the  words 
“vltra  trophea  liberi  et  herculis  quorum  centum  erant”  (iv.  60,  fol.  44  r°). 

2  “Vincent,  in  his  Storial  Mirour”  ( Legend  of  Good  Women,  Prologue  A,  307).  Cf. 
Miss  Hammond’s  Chaucer.  A  Bibliographical  Manual,  p.  105. 


THE  PILLARS  OF  HERCULES 


561 

tion  that  there  was  an  author  called  “Tropheus”  or  “Trophee,” 
and  that  to  this  author  Chaucer  should  have  credited  the  state¬ 
ment  that  Hercules  set  up  a  pillar  as  a  boundary  “at  bothe  the 
worldes  endes”. 

That  the  word  tropaea  gave  trouble  is  shown  in  striking 
fashion  by  several  of  the  translations  made  of  the  Epistola  Alex- 
andri  ad  Aristotelem.  The  Anglo-Saxon  version  omits  the  word 
and  otherwise  changes  the  passage.1  The  Icelandic  version  also 
dodges  trophaea .2  The  old  Italian  version  absurdly  renders 
trophaea  by  trionfo.3 

The  gloss  “Ille  vates  Chaldeorum  Tropheus”,  in  the  margin 
of  the  Ellesmere  and  the  Hengwrt  MS.  of  the  Canterbury  Tales 
may  or  may  not  be  Chaucer’s  own.  It  seems  most  likely,  on  the 
whole,  that  it  is  a  reference  jotted  down  by  the  poet  himself. 

1  “And  Herculis  gelicnisse  and  Libri  Psra  twegea  goda  he  [fc.  Porus]  buta  of  golde 
gegeat  and  geworhte  and  hie  butu  asette  in  pxm  eastdaele  middangeardes  (ed.  Baskervill, 
p.  20;  Cockayne,  Narratiunculae  Anglice  Conscriptae ,  p.  19).  This  is  a  kind  of  amalgama¬ 
tion  of  the  two  sentences  of  the  original:  “Ast  ad  Herculis  Liberique  trophaea  me  deduxit 
in  orientis  ultimi  oris  aurea  utraque  deorum  constituerat  simulacra.”  Kuebler  (in  his 
edition  of  Julius  Valerius,  1888,  p.  204)  puts  a  semicolon  after  oris ,  but  the  Anglo-Saxon 
translator  construed  “in  orientis  ultimi  oris”  with  “constituerat.”  The  Anglo-Saxon  trans¬ 
lator  also  dodges  the  word  “trophies”  later  in  the  Epistola.  Where  the  Latin  has  “Orabam 
numina,  ut  me  regem  totius  orbis  terrarum  cum  sublimibus  trophaeis  triumphantem  in 
Macedoniam  Olympiadi  matri  meae  remitterent”  (Kuebler,  p.  209),  he  renders:  “Ond 
ic  .  .  .  baed  pa  godmasgen  pxt  hie  mec  ealles  middangeardes  kyning  and  hlaford  mid 
hean  sigum  geweor]?eden,  ond  in  Macedoniam  ic  eft  gelasded  waere  to  Olimphiade  minre 
meder”  (ed.  Baskervill,  p.  24,  11.  569  ff.)  The  passage  near  the  end  (p.  220),  which 
mentions  the  “Liberi  et  Herculis  tropaea”  again,  does  not  appear  in  the  Anglo-Saxon. 

2  This  version  is  considerably  abbreviated  and  shows  a  very  imperfect  comprehension 
of  the  original:  “Ok  sealfr  hann  for  med  mer  i  austanvert  riki  sitt.  Pagat  sem  fremzt 
hafdi  komiz  Hercules,  ok  Liber.  Par  liet  ek  [rzc]  gora  likneski  eptir  ]?eim  or  brendu 
gulli  sem  adr  hofdu  verit  skurdgod”  (ed.  Unger,  in  the  Anhang  to  Alexanders  Saga, 
Christiania,  1848,  p.  170).  Note  that  the  Icelandic  translator  says  nothing  about  Alexander’s 
boring  into  one  of  the  images. 

3  “Venendo  al  trionfo  d’Hercole  e  di  Bacco,  a’  quali  Dei  egli  [jc.  Poro]  haveva  posto 
nell’  ultima  contrade  di  Levante  alcune  statue  d’oro”  (/  Nobili  Fatti  di  Alessandro  Magno, 
ed.  Grion,  Bologna,  1872,  p.  251). 


562  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


But,  however  that  may  be,  we  can  hardly  doubt  that  it  repre¬ 
sents  substantially  the  shape  in  which  information  about  “Tro- 
phee”  lay  in  Chaucer’s  mind.  He  had  seen  somewhere,  in  all 
probability,  a  statement  ascribed  to  “ille  vates  Chaldeorum  Tro- 
pheus”  to  the  effect  that  Hercules  set  up  pillars  in  the  Orient, 
and  this  ascription,  we  may  conjecture,  was  the  last  result  of  a 
series  of  blunders  of  which  the  mention  of  “Herculis  Liberique 
trophea”  in  the  Epistola  had  been  the  point  of  departure.1  Per¬ 
haps  a  confusion  between  Liber,  “Bacchus”,  and  liber ,  “book”, 
was  operative  at  some  stage  of  this  process.  That  “Tropheus” 
is  called  a  “vates  Chaldeorum”  is  a  welcome  indication  that  we 
are  on  the  right  track.  For  seers,  Chaldean  and  other,  play  a 
considerable  part  in  the  history  and  the  legend  of  Alexander.2 

It  is  not  impossible  that  an  excessively  curious  place  in 
Julius  Valerius  has  got  mixed  up  in  some  fashion  in  the  imbro¬ 
glio  which  we  are  considering.  In  the  letter  to  Olympias  —  the 
same  in  which  we  have  already  found  an  account  of  the  “Her¬ 
culis  stelae”  which  Alexander  examined  3  —  Alexander  describes 

1  Manifestly  the  original  misunderstander  of  the  passage  in  the  Epistola  did  not  owe 
his  knowledge  of  the  Eastern  Pillars  of  Hercules  to  that  work,  for  it  does  not  use  the  word 
columnas.  He  was  doubtless  already  familiar  with  the  passage  in  the  Historia  de  Preliis 
(derived  from  Julius  Velerius)  in  which  the  columnae  are  mentioned  (see  p.  551, 
above),  and,  coming  upon  the  same  anecdote  in  a  corrupt  text  of  the  Epistola  (or  in  a 
corrupt  quotation  from  it),  recognized  the  identity  of  the  incident,  but  supposed  trophea 
(or  whatever  he  read  instead  of  it)  to  be  the  name  of  an  author.  This  error  he  may 
have  made  at  the  time,  or,  very  possibly,  years  afterward,  when  he  was  writing  from 
memory.  Or,  still  more  probably,  we  are  concerned  with  a  case  of  progressive  misunder¬ 
standing,  in  which  several  persons  were  implicated.  Crescit  eundo! 

2  See,  for  example,  Arrian,  iii,  16;  5;  iv,  13,  5;  vii,  u,  8;  vii,  16,  5;  vii,  17;  vii,  22, 
1;  Quintus  Curtius,  iii,  3;  iv,  10,  4;  v,  1,  22;  vii,  7,  8  ;  ix,  4,  27;  Diodorus  Siculus,  xvii, 
112  (cf.  116)  ;  Pseudo-Callisthenes,  iii,  30  (ed.  Muller,  p.  144)  ;  Julius  Valerius,  i,  50  (63) 
(ed.  Kuebler,  p.  60)  ;  iii,  57  (92)  (p.  165).  Cf.  R.  Geier,  Alexander  und  Aristoteles  in 
ihren  gegenseitigen  Beziehungen,  1856,  pp.  205  ff. 

3  See  page  549  above. 


THE  PILLARS  OF  HERCULES  563 

a  temple  in  which  Xerxes  used  to  give  oracular  replies  to  in¬ 
quirers: 

Nam  et  aedem  quandam  ad  speciem  Graeci  operis  illic  magnifkentissimam 
viseres  inque  ea  aede  etiam  responsa  dare  memoratum  regem  sciscitantibus  cele¬ 
brant.  Et  situm  ibidem  in  templo  viseres  varium  opus,  tropheum  aureum 
dependens  aedificii  de  culmine,  adhaerebatque  illi  tropheo  orbis  quidam  ad  modum 
vertiginis  caelitis,  superque  orbem  simulacrum  columbae  sessitabat,  quod  ubi 
responsa  rex  diceret,  humanis  vocibus  sciscitanti  loqui  ferretur.  Id  tropheum 
cum  auferre  indidem  mihi  cupiditas  foret,  ut  ad  vos  et  ad  nostram  Graeciam 
mitteretur,  idem  qui  aderant,  contenderunt  rem  sacram  esse  neque  contemnendo 
periculo  invadari  a  quopiam  posse.  1 

Tropheum  here  means  a  “bird  cage”,2  but  the  word  is  ex¬ 
cessively  rare,  and  certainly  was  not  always  understood  by  the 
scribes.  The  tropheum  was  not,  to  be  sure,  a  vates,  but  it  was 
closely  associated  with  the  vaticination,  and  it  may  well  have 
given  rise  to  various  errors  in  the  mediaeval  mind.  The  point 
need  not  be  pressed,  but  is  worth  a  moment’s  notice. 

We  cannot  expect  to  retrace  the  devious  paths  of  miscopy- 
ing,  mistranslation,  and  misapprehension  which  led  from  the 
“Herculis  Liberique  trophea”  to  Chaucer’s  “seith  Trophee.” 
But  the  history  of  literature  is  crowded  with  examples  of  similar 
errors.  Two  or  three  may  be  selected  from  the  Alexander  tradi¬ 
tion  itself. 

1  Julius  Valerius,  iii,  52  (85),  ed.  Kuebler,  p.  160  (cf.  Mai,  ed.  1817,  iii,  85,  p.  218). 
See  Pseudo-Callisthenes,  iii,  28  (ed.  Muller,  pp.  141-2;  Meusel,  p.  786)  ;  Armenian,  Raabe, 
p.  96;  Syriac,  Budge,  p.  133;  Ethiopic,  Budge,  p.  337;  Historia  de  Preliis  (Landgraf, 
p.  125;  Zingerle,  §  122,  p.  256);  Wars  of  Alexander,  vv.  5599-5610  (ed.  Skeat,  p.  274); 
Italian,  ed.  Grion,  p.  164.  Cf.  Zacher,  Pseudo-Callisthenes,  pp.  169-172;  Ausfeld,  Der 
griechische  Alexanderroman,  pp.  107,  198;  Cillie,  De  Iulii  Valeriii  Epiloma  Oxoniensi, 
p.  52.  The  passage  is  not  found  in  the  Epitome  of  Julius  Valerius.  The  cage  is  men¬ 
tioned  in  Valerius  ( tropheum )  and  Pseudo-Callisthenes  (dprvyoTpopetov)  only. 

2  Tpo<pdov  {Pseudo-Callisthenes,  iii,  28,  dproyorpopeiov). 


564  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


The  superscription  of  the  letter  of  Darius  to  his  satraps 
beyond  the  Taurus  is  as  follows  in  Pseudo-Callisthenes :  Bao-iAevs 

Aapetos  rots  hre.Kuva  rod  T avpov  crTpaTrjyots  ^atptiv. 1  Out  of  this  by 

some  process,  the  Ethiopic  translator  has  made:  “From 
Darius,  the  king  of  kings,  to  the  subjects  of  Tiberius  Caesar  the 
Greek.”  2  It  is  submitted  that  an  epistle  from  Darius  to  the  sub¬ 
jects  of  a  Greek  Tiberius  Caesar,  bidding  them  arrest  Alexander 
of  Macedon,  is  quite  as  great  a  curiosity  as  a  testimonium  as  to 
the  Pillars  of  Hercules  derived  from  an  author  named  Tropheus. 

Julius  Valerius  informs  us  that  Alexander,  shortly  before 
his  death,  received  a  letter  from  his  mother  concerning  the  quar¬ 
rels  of  Antipater  and  Divinopater  (“super  Antipatri  et  Divino- 
patris  simultatibus”) ,  and  urging  him  to  return  to  Epirus.3 
Of  course  there  never  was  any  such  person  as  Divinopater,  and 
it  is  highly  probable  4  that  this  strange  name  arose  from  a  mis¬ 
reading  of  the  Greek  participle  Sawjrafloumjs  (“feeling  indigna¬ 
tion”),  which  occurs  at  this  point  in  Version  A  of  the  Pseudo- 
Callisthenes.5  Yet  Divinopater  passed  into  the  Epitome  of  Va¬ 
lerius,6  and  thence  (as  Divinuspater ,  governor  of  Tyre)  into  the 
French  romance  of  Lambert  li  Tort  the  Alixandre  de  Paris. 
The  romance  even  professes  to  give  the  actual  conversation  be¬ 
tween  him  and  Antipater  as  they  discuss  their  affairs  and  plot  the 

1  i,  39  (Muller,  p.  44). 

2  Budge,  p.  59. 

3  iii,  31,  56  (89),  p.  163. 

4  According  to  the  admirable  suggestion  of  Zacher,  Pseudo-Callisthenes,  p.  12. 

5  See  Muller’s  ed.,  note  on  iii,  31,  p.  144:  Tijs  St  p.t)Tpb s  axrrov  ’ 0\vp.md8os  ir\eovdias 
ypact>o6<Ti)s  irepl  roO  ’AvTiin£77)oi>Kai5eiJ'O'7ra0oi5<r'>js[insert  <I>s] <r /a>/3aXtfercu oScra  avdpuiirov[rea.d 
’ AXe^dvSpov, with  the  Armenian],  Cf.  Ausfeld,  Der  griechische Alexanderroman,  1907,  p.109 
(with  n.  1).  It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  Historia  de  Preliis  avoids  the  error  which  has 
made  its  way  into  the  text  of  Julius  Valerius.  It  reads  (ed.  Landgraf,  31a,  125,  p.  126): 
“Mater  vero  illius  multis  vicibus  scripserat  Alexandra  de  Antipatro  et  angustiabatur,”  this 
last  word  being  a  sufficiently  close  translation  of  Seivotradodaris. 


THE  PILLARS  OF  HERCULES  565 

death  of  Alexander.  Indeed,  it  is  Divinuspater  who  suggests 
the  use  of  poison: 

Dist  Divinuspater:  “De  tel  marcie  tel  vente; 

Fortune  lieve  l’oume  et  puis  le  recravente, 

Car  mauvaisties  est  d’ome  qui  tous  jors  se  demente. 

Bon  consel  ai  trove,  se  il  vos  atalente: 

Nous  li  donrons  venin,  et  nus  ne  s’en  repente, 

Que  l’arme  aut  en  infer,  en  painne  et  en  tormente.” 

Et  dist  Antipater:  “Ceste  raisons  est  gente; 

La  gent  en  vengerons  que  il  a  fait  dolente.”  1 

The  mistakes  which  Lydgate  makes  in  translating  Guido’s 
account  of  the  Western  Pillars  of  Hercules  show  how  little 
fitted  the  worthy  Monk  of  Bury  is  to  act  as  guide  to  modern 
scholars.  Guido  writes  that  the  straits  at  the  entrance  to  the 
Mediterranean  are  known  to  sailors  as  “Strictus  Sibile”,  and 
that  the  place  where  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  stand  is  called 
“Saphis”  in  the  Saracen  tongue:  “Hunc  locum  angustum,  a 
quo  primum  hoc  mediterraneum  mare  dilabitur,  nostri  hodie 
nauigantes  Strictum  Sibile  nominant.  Et  locus  ille  in  quo  pre- 
dicte  columne  Herculis  sunt  affixe  dicitur  Saracenica  lingua 
Saphis  a  quo  non  sufficit  vltra  ire”.2  Lydgate  takes  Saracenica 
as  the  name  of  the  place,  and,  reading  longa  for  lingua ,  works 
out  the  meaning  as  follows: 

Sibellys  streytes  maryners  it  calle, 

And  pe  boundes,  pei  named  ben  of  alle, 

Of  Hercules,  for  he  hym  silf  hem  sette, 

As  for  markys  alle  other  for  to  lette 

1  I  give  the  passage  as  printed  by  Paul  Meyer,  Romania,  XI,  224.  See  Michelant’s 
edition,  p.  504,  11.  19-27;  cf.  P.  Meyer,  Alexandre  le  Grand,  II,  188,  202-3. 

2  Ed.  1489,  sig.  a  3,  r°. 


566  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Ferther  to  passe,  as  Guydo  maketh  mynde; 

And  ]>t  place  is  callyd,  as  I  fynde, 

Syracenyca,  as  fyn  of  his  labour, 

Or  Longa  Saphi,  recorde  of  myn  auctour.  1 

It  may  also  be  worth  noting  that  Lydgate  refers  to  Ovid 
as  an  authority  on  the  pillars  at  Gades,2  though  Ovid  does  not 
mention  them.  To  Ovid  also  he  refers  for  the  Labors  of  Her¬ 
cules,  but  the  list  which  he  gives  is  not  taken  from  that  poet.3 
In  this  list,  by  the  way,  we  find  the  fire-breathing  monster  Cacus 
transmogrified  into  a  cat, —  “The  fyry  cat  he  slouz  without[e] 
more”!4  Obviously  Lydgate  read  catus. 

This  observation  with  regard  to  the  methods  of  the  amiable 
Don  John  will  probably  be  held  to  excuse  one  from  appending 
any  new  theory  as  to  what  he  says  of  Chaucer’s  Troilus  and  the 
“book  which  called  is  Trophe  in  Lumbard  tong.”5 

Cambridge,  Massachusetts 


1  Troy  Book ,  i,  609-16  (ed.  Bergen,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  I,  29). 

2  *>  597-600. 

3  The  list  (i,  573-594)  is,  as  Bergen  (p.  xvii)  notes,  not  in  Guido. 

4  i,  591. 

5  See  Skeat’s  Oxford  Chaucer,  II,  liv. 


NOTES  ON  THE  IRISH  PRACTICE  OF  FASTING  AS 
A  MEANS  OF  DISTRAINT 


BY 

F.  N.  Robinson 

THE  purpose  of  the  following  notes  is  to  illustrate  more 
fully  than  has  hitherto  been  done  the  ancient  Irish  pro¬ 
cedure  of  fasting  as  a  means  of  distraint.  The  existence 
of  the  custom,  particularly  in  the  form  in  which  it  appears  in 
the  Brehon  law,  has  long  been  recognized,  and  comparisons  have 
been  made  with  similar  institutions  in  other  parts  of  the  world. 
Attention  has  also  been  called  by  editors  and  commentators  to 
scattered  instances  of  it  in  Irish  literary  and  historical  documents ; 
but  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  bring  together  any  considerable 
amount  of  material  from  different  sources  and  to  exhibit  side  by 
side  the  various  features  of  the  practice.  The  examples  here 
collected,  though  not  numerous,  represent  nearly  every  depart¬ 
ment  of  Irish  literature,  and  show  that  the  conception  was  widely 
diffused  and  long  retained;  and  they  are  not  offered  as  consti¬ 
tuting  a  complete  survey  of  the  early  Irish  material.  Their 
number  could  doubtless  be  much  increased  by  a  systematic  can¬ 
vass  of  printed  Irish  writings,  and  no  one  knows  how  much  evi¬ 
dence  concerning  this,  as  concerning  all  other  phases  of  Celtic 
life  and  thought,  lies  concealed  in  the  great  mass  of  unpublished 
Irish  manuscripts. 


568  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


In  the  Brehon  law  fasting  is  simply  a  special  form  of  notice 
which  must  be  served  upon  a  debtor  of  high  rank  before  seizure 
of  his  goods.  The  principal  passages  bearing  upon  the  matter 
are  the  following: 1 

“Notice  precedes  every  distress  in  the  case  of  the  inferior 
grades, 2  except  it  be  by  persons  of  distinction  or  upon  persons  of 
distinction;  fasting  precedes  distress  in  their  case.  He  who  does 
not  give  a  pledge  to  fasting  is  an  evader  of  all;  he  who  disre¬ 
gards  all  things  shall  not  be  paid  by  God  or  man.”  —  In  the 
commentary  which  follows  this  statement  it  is  explained  that  if 
the  plaintiff  fasts  without  receiving  a  pledge,  he  is  entitled  to 
double  the  debt  and  double  food;  and  the  seventh  of  death-fine, 
and  honor-price,  provided  food  has  not  been  offered  him.  If 
food  has  been  offered  him,  and  no  pledge  has  been  given  him,  he 
is  entitled  to  double  the  debt  and  five  horned  cattle.  But  if  a 
pledge  has  been  offered  him,  and  he  continues  to  fast,  though 
food  be  not  offered,  he  forfeits  the  debt  and  five  horned  cattle. 
Further  provisions  follow  with  regard  to  the  periods  of  notice 
required  in  different  cases. 

“He  who  refuses  to  cede  what  should  be  accorded  to  fasting, 
the  judgment  on  him  according  to  the  Feini  is  that  he  pay  double 
the  thing  for  which  he  is  fasted  upon.”  —  Then  the  commentary 
repeats  explanations  similar  to  those  given  above. 

“He  who  fasts  notwithstanding  the  offer  of  what  should  be 
accorded  to  him,  forfeits  his  legal  right  according  to  the  decision 
of  the  Feini.  The  just  mode  of  stopping  each  fasting  with  the 
Feini  is  to  give  the  security  of  a  good  surety  who  would  not 

1  Ancient  Laws  of  Ireland,  I,  112  if. 

2  Perhaps  to  be  translated  rather  “among  the  Feini”  (i.  e.,  the  Irish).  The  quotation 
follows  the  English  translation  of  the  Ancient  Laws. 


THE  IRISH  PRACTICE  OF  FASTING  569 


evade,  or  a  pledge  of  the  pledges  in  the  house  of  the  person  who 
is  fasted  upon.” — This  is  followed  by  a  note  prescribing  a  fine, 
according  to  the  rank  of  the  plaintiff,  in  addition  to  the  for¬ 
feiture  of  his  claim,  if  he  persists  in  fasting  after  the  pledge  is 
offered. 1 

This  whole  procedure  was  long  ago  compared  by  Dr  Whit¬ 
ley  Stokes 2  with  the  Indian  custom  known  as  “sitting  dharna,” 
and  various  opinions  have  been  held  as  to  the  relation  of  the  two 
institutions  and  as  to  the  sanctions  which  underlie  them.  Neith¬ 
er  of  these  subjects  can  be  adequately  discussed  here,  and  in  any 
case  the  problem  on  the  Indian  side  would  lie  beyond  the  com¬ 
petence  of  the  present  writer. 3  But  the  instances  of  Irish  fast- 

1  Other  references  to  the  custom  in  the  “Senchus  Mor”  are  collected  by  Atkinson  in 
the  Glossary,  s.  v.  troscad.  (An  instance  in  Vol.  I,  p.  128,  appears  to  have  been  over¬ 
looked).  Some  are  cases  of  bare  mention  and  others  are  obscure.  On  the  whole  they  add 
little  to  the  information  in  the  passages  quoted  above. 

2  Sir  Henry  Maine,  in  his  Lectures  on  the  Early  History  of  Institutions  (1875),  p. 
297,  credited  Dr  Stokes  with  having  first  made  the  comparison.  It  is  also  true  that  Dr 
Stokes’s  editions  of  Irish  texts  have  brought  to  notice  many  of  the  Irish  instances  of  the 
practice. 

3  “Sitting  Dharna”  and  related  Eastern  customs  are  described  in  Maine’s  Lectures  on 
the  Early  History  of  Institutions ,  pp.  39  ff,  297  ff,  and  more  fully  by  H.  R.  Fink,  Calcutta 
Review,  1876,  pp.  37  ff.  See  also  Leist,  Jus  Gentium,  p.  475.  Opinions  have  differed  as 
to  the  age  of  the  custom,  and  Fink  (following  Monier  Williams,  Indian  Wisdom ,  270,  n.) 
denies  that  it  is  recognized  in  the  laws  of  Manu.  But  Jolly,  Ueber  das  Indische  Schuldrecht 
(Sitzb.  d.  bairischen  Akad.  d.  Wiss.  1877),  p.  316,  holds  the  modern  practice  to  be  identical 
with  acarita  in  Manu,  and  its  antiquity  is  further  supported  by  a  recent  article  of  Professor 
Washburn  Hopkins  ( Journ .  of  the  Am.  Oriental  Soc.,  xxi,  146  ff)  in  which  instances  are 
cited  from  Sanskrit  literature  of  suicide  by  starvation  undertaken  for  the  purpose  of  injur¬ 
ing  or  constraining  another  person.  On  a  loose  form  of  Dharna,  known  in  South  India  as 
takaza,  see  the  same  article,  pp.  157  ff,  and  compare  Dr  Stokes,  Revue  Celtique,  vn,  249. 

Usages  similar  to  the  Irish  and  Indian  exist  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  but  no  attempt 
will  be  made  to  deal  with  them  here.  A  few  references  are  added  merely  for  purposes 
of  illustration.  On  suicide  as  a  mode  of  revenge  see  p.  583,  below.  On  fasting  in  particu¬ 
lar  see  the  account  of  customs  in  Bosnia  and  Slavonia  given  by  F.  S.  Krauss,  Smailagic 
Meho,  Ragun,  1885,  pp.  120  ff  (cited  in  Melusine,  iv,  406).  A  literary  parallel  in  Old 
French,  perhaps  derived  from  Celtic,  is  found  in  the  Lai  d’Ignaure  (see  Melusine,  vn,  56). 
It  is  noteworthy  that  other  tales  of  the  same  type  lack  the  element  of  fasting.  Compare 
Child,  English  and  Scottish  Ballads,  Part  ix,  pp.  29  ff.  Luzel  ( Melusine ,  iv,  41)  men- 


570 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


ing  which  are  to  be  cited  will  throw  some  light,  it  is  hoped,  on 
the  character  and  history  of  the  Celtic  custom.  They  will  at 
least  show  that  the  principle  was  of  much  more  general  applica¬ 
tion  than  appears  in  the  laws. 

With  regard  to  chronology,  it  should  be  explained  at  the 
outset  that  all  the  Irish  materials  are  derived,  of  necessity,  from 
documents  written  since  the  conversion.  The  Brehon  law  code, 
although  traditionally  supposed  to  have  been  drawn  up  in  the 
fifth  century  by  a  commission  of  which  St  Patrick  was  a  member, 
is  preserved  only  in  late  manuscripts  and  cannot  be  dated  with 
certainty. *  1  The  articles  dealing  with  delayed  seizure,  including 
those  on  fasting,  are  held  by  M.  d’Arbois  de  Jubainville  not  to 
belong  to  the  older  portion  of  the  compilation. 2  On  any  as¬ 
sumption  there  was  plenty  of  opportunity  for  Christian  influence 
to  operate  upon  the  laws,  and  the  evidences  concerning  fasting 
to  be  cited  from  general  literature  are  mostly  of  a  still  later 
period.  Indications  of  pagan  origin,  therefore,  must  be  found, 
if  found  at  all,  in  the  character  of  the  practices  themselves,  and 
not  in  the  time  of  their  record  or  occurrence.  So  little,  in  fact, 
does  chronology  enter  into  the  discussion  that  no  especial  account 
will  be  taken  of  it  in  the  arrangement  of  the  material;  but  ap¬ 
proximate  dates  will  ordinarily  be  given  for  the  documents  cited. 

The  conceptions  of  simple  religious  fasting  and  of  fasting 
with  hostile  purpose  against  a  debtor  or  an  enemy  seem  reason¬ 
ably  distinct,  whatever  their  original  relation.  Perhaps  the  no- 

tioned  the  Breton  phrase  me  iuno  zvarn/ian,  “I  will  fast  on  him,”  as  a  possible  survival  of 
the  conception,  and  Professor  J.  D.  M.  Ford  has  suggested  that  there  may  be  something 
similar  behind  Sancho  Panza’s  use  of  ayuno  ( Don  Quijoie,  part  I,  chap,  xxv,  near  the 
end).  The  fabliau  of  Guillaume  au  Faucon,  cited  by  Gaidoz  in  Melusine,  vii,  57,  does  not 
seem  to  be  really  parallel. 

1  Certain  considerations  in  favor  of  the  substantial  truth  of  the  tradition  are  urged 
by  Professor  Bury,  Life  of  St.  Patrick,  pp.  355  ff. 

2  Cours  de  Litterature  Celtique,  vn,  p.  220. 


THE  IRISH  PRACTICE  OF  FASTING  571 

tion  of  compulsion  exercised  upon  the  divinity  has  been  a  funda¬ 
mental  element  in  fasting  and  other  phases  of  religious  asceti¬ 
cism;  and  what  appears  to  the  modern  Christian  as  a  form  of 
sacrifice  and  humiliation  may  once  have  been,  in  some  of  its 
aspects,  a  way  of  taking  the  kingdom  of  heaven  as  it  were  by 
violence.  But  with  this  question  we  are  not  here  primarily  con¬ 
cerned.  For  the  ancient  Irish,  as  for  us,  the  two  ideas  seem  to 
have  been  separate,  although  it  was  inevitable  that,  possessing 
both  conceptions,  they  should  sometimes  have  confused  them. 
On  the  one  hand,  ordinary  cases  of  religious  fasting,  conceived 
and  described  as  they  might  be  anywhere  else  in  the  literature  of 
Christian  Europe,  are  of  the  commonest  occurrence  in  Celtic; 
and  Irish  treatises  on  the  subject,  like  the  so-called  “Second 
Vision  of  Adamnan”1  are  unaffected  by  what  I  will  call,  without 
meaning  to  beg  any  questions,  the  non-Christian  conception. 
On  the  other  side  there  are  cases  of  fasting  in  which  heaven  does 
not  seem  to  be  addressed  or  its  intervention  directly  contem¬ 
plated,  but  in  which  the  proceeding,  just  as  in  the  laws,  is 
purely  between  man  and  man.  With  examples  of  this  character 
it  may  be  best  to  begin. 2 

1  Revue  celtique,  xii,  420  ff. 

2  Instances  which  show  a  mixture  of  the  two  conceptions  will  be  treated  later.  Some 
of  them  are  decidedly  ambiguous  and  the  terms  employed  in  the  original  Irish  give  little 
help  toward  determining  their  meaning.  Of  the  four  words  for  fasting  which  occur  in 
the  passages  under  consideration,  aine  usually  means  the  common  Christian  fast,  though 
it  appears  to  apply  to  the  other  kind  in  the  story  of  Vortigern  (see  p.  576,  below)  ;  treid- 
henus  (see  the  Senadh  Saighri,  p.  579,  below)  regularly  means  a  three  days’  religious  fast; 
troscad  is  common  in  both  senses;  and  toichned,  which  is  rare,  also  has  both  uses.  On 
toichned  see  Meyer,  Voyage  of  Bran,  11,  294,  n.,  and  Cain  Adamnain  ( Anecdota  Oxoniensia, 
1905),  p.  50,  and  Stokes,  Revue  celtique,  xxii,  42  and  434.  Various  prepositions  are  used  be¬ 
fore  the  name  of  the  person  fasted  against.  Ar  and  for  appear  in  the  laws,  and  in  the 
non-legal  texts,  ac,  ar,  for,  fri,  la  all  occur  without  distinction  of  meaning.  The  passage 
Bai  Patraic  ina  troscadh  fri  Dia  for  Loeguiri,  “Patrick  was  fasting  toward  (?) 
God  upon  Laegaire,”  suggests  a  distinction  which  is  not  elsewhere  carried  out.  Thus 
in  the  Book  of  Leinster  troscud  frisseomh  and  troscud  foir  stand  side  by  side  and 
refer  to  the  same  occurrence.  See  Stokes,  Lives  of  Saints  from  the  Book  of  Lismore, 


572 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Several  instances  occur  in  the  well-known  collection  of  topo¬ 
graphical  legends  entitled  the  “Dindsenchas,”  a  compilation  of 
the  Middle  Irish  period  embodying  material  of  various  dates.*  1 
In  the  prose  introduction  the  preservation  of  the  stories  them¬ 
selves  is  explained  by  the  statement  that  Amorgein,  the  poet,  fast¬ 
ed  for  three  days  and  three  nights  on  Finntan  mac  Lamech 
( rotroisc  .  .  .  for  Finntan )  in  the  presence  of  the  men  of  Erin 
and  the  boys  and  girls  of  Tara.  Finntan,  here  called  the  son 
of  Lamech,  was  believed  to  have  survived  the  deluge  and  lived 
till  the  seventh  century.  He  had  therefore  been  a  contemporary 
observer  of  most  of  Irish  history  and  was  well  able  to  give  Amor¬ 
gein  the  information  desired.2 

Again,  in  the  Dindsenchas  of  Carn  Conaill,  there  is  an  in¬ 
stance  of  fasting,  combined  this  time  with  the  wager  of  battle.3 
The  sons  of  Umor  settled  in  Ireland  and  gave  King  Cairpre,  as 
sureties  for  the  performance  of  their  services,  Cet  mac  Magach, 
Ross  mac  Deda,  Conall  Cernach,  and  Cuchulainn.  When  Cair¬ 
pre  imposed  on  them  an  unendurable  rent,  they  decamped  to  the 
territory  of  Ailill  and  Medb.  Then  Cairpre  summoned  the 

p.  ix.  The  Irish  phrases,  except  in  a  few  cases  where  the  original  text  is  for  the 
moment  inaccessible  to  the  writer,  will  be  quoted  here.  But  it  has  been  necessary,  for 
the  sake  of  brevity,  to  give  condensed  summaries  rather  than  full  translations  of  the 
stories  cited. 

1  The  prose  portions  of  the  “Dindsenchas”  from  a  Rennes  MS.  have  been  published  by 
Stokes  in  the  Revue  celtique,  vols.  XV  and  xvi.  For  the  episode  here  cited  see  vol.  XV,  p.  27. 
An  edition  of  the  metrical  “Dindsenchas”  has  been  begun  by  Professor  Edward  Gwynn  in 
the  Todd  Lectures  Series  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy. 

2  A  similar  procedure  is  mentioned  in  one  account  of  the  way  Senchan  Torpeist  learned 
the  story  of  the  great  Tain  B6  Cuailnge.  “Some  say  that  it  was  made  known  to  Senchan 
after  he  had  fasted  against  the  saints  (iar  troscud  fri  noebu)  of  the  seed  of  Fergus,  and  it 
would  not  be  strange  if  this  were  so.”  (See  Windisch’s  edition  of  the  Tain,  p.  Lin).  In¬ 
deed  the  story  in  the  “Dindsenchas”  may  well  have  been  taken  over  from  the  earlier  saga 
cycle,  as  is  held  to  have  been  the  case  with  many  features  of  the  Ossianic  sagas. 

3  Revue  celtique,  xv,  478  ff. 


THE  IRISH  PRACTICE  OF  FASTING  573 


hostages  and  demanded  “their  honor  or  their  life.”  They  re¬ 
paired  to  Cruachan  (the  stronghold  of  Ailill  and  Medb)  and 
fasted  on  the  green  {foe  hr  aid  a  troscud  for  faichte  in  dunaid) . 
Cet’s  wife  asked  a  night’s  respite  that  the  sons  of  Umor  might 
take  counsel,  and  the  next  day  Oengus  came  out  and  said  his  son 
and  three  of  his  brothers  would  fight  on  his  behalf  with  the 
hostages.  They  fought,  and  the  sons  of  Umor  were  killed,  and 
the  hostages  took  their  heads  to  Cairpre. 

In  the  Dindsenchas  of  Druim  Criaich  1 2  there  is  bare  men¬ 
tion  of  what  appears  to  be  a  similar  fast.  When  the  three 
sons  of  Eochaid  Feidlech  gave  battle  to  their  father,  he  ordered 
a  fast  against  them  ( timnais  .  .  .  troscad  ara  macaib )  to  over¬ 
throw  (?)  them,  or  to  make  them  grant  him  a  month’s  truce. 
But  they  fought  him  on  the  morrow  and  were  completely  routed. 

Another  case  where  fasting  is  mixed  up  with  warfare  is  fur¬ 
nished  by  a  modern  entry  in  the  “Annals  of  Ulster”  {sub  anno 
1336). 2  Magrath  of  the  Termon  is  there  said  to  have  fasted 
on  the  sons  of  Aedh  Blind-Eye  O’Neill  {do  throsgadh  air 
chlainn  Aedha).  Those  sons,  and  every  muster  they  found, 
made  a  raid  in  consequence  on  Magrath,  and  his  son  was  slain 
“in  revenge  for  that  fasting”  {a  n-dighailt  in  troisgi  sin). 

In  the  “Acallamh  na  Senorach,” 3  a  Middle  Irish  compil¬ 
ation  of  miscellaneous  tales  and  traditions,  there  is  a  curious 
story  of  the  three  sons  of  Lughaidh  Menn.  They  asked  their 
father  for  land,  but  he  replied  that  no  father  had  made  him 

1  Revue  celtique ,  xvi,  148  ft. 

2  The  Annals  of  Ulster  have  been  edited  by  B.  Macarthy  in  the  Rolls  Series.  This 
episode  was  cited  by  Stokes  in  the  Academy,  Sept.  12,  1896. 

3  Edited  and  translated  by  S.  H.  O’Grady  in  his  Silva  Gadelica  (London,  1892)  and 
by  Stokes,  Irische  Texte,  Part  iv.  For  this  passage  see  Stokes’s  edition,  pp.  11  ff. 


574 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


such  a  gift  and  that  they  must  win  it  for  themselves.  After  tak¬ 
ing  counsel,  they  made  their  way  to  the  green  of  the  Brugh  and 
sat  down  to  fast  upon  the  Tuatha  De  Danann  ( troscad  do 
dhenam  re  T uatha  De  Danann ) .  Bodhbh  Derg,  the  Dagda’s  son, 
soon  came  out  to  them  and  said  their  purpose  had  been  revealed 
to  the  Tuatha  De  Danann.  He  invited  them  into  the  Brugh  and 
offered  them  food;  but  they  refused  to  break  their  fast,  declaring 
that  they  had  come  to  ask  for  a  land  and  a  domain.  Then  the 
Tuatha  De  Danann  went  into  council  and  decided  to  give  the 
sons  of  Lughaidh  Menn  wives  and  a  domain  and  great  gifts 
(mostly  of  a  magic  character) .  The  Tuatha  De  Danann,  it  will 
be  remembered,  are  held  to  have  been  originally  mythological 
persons,  who  were  explained  by  the  Irish  chroniclers  as  a  race  of 
early  invaders  and  who  came  to  be  regarded  as  fairies  in  the  later 
belief  of  the  people.  In  the  present  story  fasting  seems  to  serve 
the  purpose  of  more  violent  modes  of  attack  which  are  found  in 
other  tales  of  the  sacking  of  a  sidh  or  other-world  abode. 

In  the  traditions  about  the  Irish  saints  there  are  a  number  of 
cases  in  which  one  man  fasts  against  another,  but  in  some  of  them 
the  ordinary  Christian  conception  of  fasting  seems  to  have  mod¬ 
ified  or  even  replaced  the  other.  The  following  story  of  St 
Columba,1  however,  seems  quite  parallel  to  the  cases  that  have 
been  considered.  King  Aed  asked  Columba  to  obtain  for  him 
from  the  Lord  that  the  Leinstermen  should  not  triumph  over  him 
in  battle.  The  saint  replied,  “That  is  hard  for  me,  for  my  moth¬ 
er  was  one  of  them  (i.  e.,  of  the  Leinster  folk)  ;  and  the  Leinster¬ 
men  came  to  me  to  Daurmag,  and  instituted  a  fast  upon  me 

1  It  is  related  in  the  Middle  Irish  Boroma  in  the  Book  of  Leinster.  See  Stokes’s 
edition,  Revue  celtique,  xm,  89. 


THE  IRISH  PRACTICE  OF  FASTING  575 


( rofuaipretar  troscud  form)  .  .  .  [They  asked]  that  a  foreign 
king  should  not  take  the  victory  from  them,  and  I  gave  them 
that  pledge.” 

Of  the  same  character  seems  to  have  been  the  fasting  men¬ 
tioned  in  a  story  of  St  Finnen  of  the  sixth  century.  It  is  told 
in  the  Middle  Irish  accounts  of  the  transformations  of  Tuan  mac 
Cairill. 1  One  day  Finnen  and  his  followers  came  to  the  strong¬ 
hold  of  a  pagan  warrior  in  Ulster,  who  denied  them  admittance. 
They  fasted  upon  him  (literally  “at  him”  or  “by  him,”  rothroisc- 
set  aci  in  one  manuscript,  docinet  lais  in  another)  of  a  Sun¬ 
day,  and  one  version  of  the  story  says  that  hospitality  was 
granted  them,  and  Finnen  and  the  warriors  became  good  friends. 

According  to  one  of  the  glosses  in  the  “Martyrology  of 
Oengus,”  2  a  dumb  poet  fasted  upon  the  nun  Moninne  (ro  troisc 
aid)  in  order  to  obtain  speech.  “And  this  was  the  first  thing  he 
said,  nin  nin.  Hence  the  nun  was  called  Mo-ninne  and  the  poet 
Ninine  Eces .”  Here  we  have  to  do  obviously  with  a  Christian 
miracle,  but  the  fasting  is  conceived,  not  as  a  form  of  divine  wor¬ 
ship,  but  as  a  means  of  constraining  the  nun  to  perform  the 
miracle. 

In  the  “Tripartite  Life  of  St.  Patrick”  3  there  is  also  a 
story  of  fasting  which  it  is  most  natural  to  interpret  in  the  same 
way.  On  the  road  to  Midluachair,  Patrick  saw  slaves  felling  a 
tree,  and  their  hands  were  bleeding.  They  told  him  that  they 
were  not  permitted  by  Trian,  their  master,  to  sharpen  their  irons 
and  thus  to  lighten  their  labor.  Patrick  first  blessed  the  irons, 

1  See  H.  d’Arbois  de  Jubainville,  Cycle  mythologique,  pp.  47  ff,  and  Meyer,  Voyage 
of  Bran,  II,  76  ff,  285  ff. 

2  Edited  by  Stokes  for  the  Henry  Bradshaw  Society.  See  p.  167.  The  text  of  the 
Martyrology  is  Old  Irish,  probably  of  about  the  year  800,  but  the  glosses  are  of  later  date. 

3  Edited  by  Stokes  for  the  Rolls  Series  (see  p.  218). 


576  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


and  then  went  and  fasted  upon  Trian  ( troisciss  fair).  The  next 
day  he  departed,  first  casting  spittle  on  a  rock,  which  broke  into 
three  parts. 1  A  third  part  of  the  spittle  was  flung  a  thousand 
paces.  Patrick  said:  “Two-thirds  of  the  fasting  [be]  upon  the 
rock,  and  a  third  upon  the  king  and  the  stronghold  and  the 
people.  There  shall  not  be  a  king  or  a  prince  of  the  race  of 
Trian.  He  himself  shall  die  and  go  down  to  bitter  hell.”  Trian 
went  to  beat  his  slaves  for  having  given  a  bad  account  of  him, 
but  his  horses  dragged  him  into  the  lake  which  bears  his  name 
( Loch  Trena) .  “He  will  not  come  out  till  the  vespers  of  dooms¬ 
day,  and  it  will  not  be  for  happiness  even  then.”  The  purpose 
of  the  fasting  is  not  explicitly  indicated,  and  it  might  perhaps  be 
regarded  as  a  Christian  observance  of  Patrick’s  by  way  of  prep¬ 
aration  for  his  miracle;  but  it  can  quite  as  easily  be  taken  as 
part  of  the  saint’s  direct  attack  upon  Trian,  and  the  language 
(“he  fasted  against  him”)  points  to  this  interpretation. 

A  similar  question  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  fasting  arises  in 
a  story  of  Germanus  and  Vortigern,  told  in  the  Irish  version  of 
Nennius.2  Germanus  tried  to  get  Vortigern  to  give  up  an  in¬ 
cestuous  relation  with  his  own  daughter.  But  the  king  fled  to 
the  mountain  Vortigerman,  and  when  the  clerics  surrounded  him 
there,  he  took  flight  again  to  Caer  Vorthigernd,  his  stronghold 
in  Gunnis.  Germanus  and  the  clergy  still  followed  him,  and 
they  fasted  there  three  days  and  three  nights  ( robatar  in  aine 
andsin).  At  the  expiration  of  this  time  Vortigern  was  struck 
dead  by  a  thunderbolt.  The  term  used  in  the  Irish  text  {aine) 

1  This  strange  feature  of  the  “thirds”  is  doubtless  due  to  the  resemblance  between 
the  common  noun  trian,  “third,”  and  the  king’s  name. 

2  Lebor  na  h-Uidre ,  4a,  printed  by  Hogan,  Todd  Lecture  Series  of  the  Royal  Irish 
Academy,  vi,  p.  14. 


THE  IRISH  PRACTICE  OF  FASTING  577 


is  applied  more  commonly  to  a  regular  religious  fast,  and  the 
phrase  “upon  him,”  or  an  equivalent  expression,  is  not  used. 
But  the  situation  so  closely  resembles  that  in  the  cases  of  hostile 
fasting,  that  the  instance  deserves  consideration  if  only  to  show 
how  easily  one  conception  could  pass  into  the  other. 

A  number  of  other  cases  might  be  cited,  especially  from  the 
stories  of  the  saints,  in  which  the  two  sorts  of  fasting  are  in  some 
fashion  confused  or  combined.  Either  an  instance  of  fasting 
for  distraint  has  been  brought  into  close  association  with  de¬ 
votional  fasting,  or  an  incident  originally  of  the  latter  type  has 
been  interpreted  by  the  Irish  in  terms  of  fasting  for  distraint. 
The  first  situation  is  illustrated  by  the  story  1  of  Germanus  and 
Patrick,  who  tried  without  success  to  put  down  the  Pelagian 
heresy  in  Britain.  Then  Patrick  said:  “Let  us  fast  for  three 
days  and  nights  upon  them  in  the  gate  of  the  city,  and  if  they 
do  not  yield  (?),  iudicet  Deus  super  se .”  At  the  end  of  the 
third  night  the  earth  swallowed  the  city  with  all  its  inhab¬ 
itants.  Similarly,  when  St  Caimmine  fasted  three  days  against 
Guaire  ( boi  oc  troscud  fair)  to  obtain  reparation  for  an  injury, 
Guaire  was  obdurate  and  an  angel  told  him  that  the  battle  of 
Inisceltra  should  go  against  him.  Then  Guaire  went  and  knelt 
to  St  Caimmine,  who  promised  him  a  later  victory  over  his  foes. 
Guaire  said  to  Caimmine,  “Fast  with  me  then  unto  God  ( fri 
Dia ),  that  he  may  grant  my  prayer.”2  A  case  mentioned  in  the 

1  See  the  commentary  on  Fiacc’s  Hymn  in  the  Franciscan  MS.,  published  by  Stokes 
and  Strachan,  Thesaurus  Palaeohibernicus,  II,  p.  311;  also  earlier  editions  of  the  “Liber 
Hymnorum,”  and  Stokes’s  Tripartite  Life ,  11,  419. 

2  See  the  “Battle  of  Carn  Conaill,”  from  the  Lebor  na  h-Uidre,  published  by  Stokes 
in  the  Zt.  fur  celt,  phil.,  hi,  208  ff.  For  other  accounts  see  O’Grady,  Silva  Gadelica,  1, 
396,  and  Keating’s  History,  Irish  Texts  Society  edition,  ill,  60. 


57B  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


“Martyrology  of  Oengus,”  1  on  the  other  hand,  may  well  be 
only  a  religious  fast  related  in  Irish  terms.  “A  great  tree  there 
was  in  Rome;  and  the  heathen  worshipped  it,  till  the  Christians 
fasted  on  the  saints  of  Europe  ( ro  troiscset  na  cristaide  for  nae- 
maib  na  h-Eorpa)  that  the  tree  might  fall,  et  statim  cecidit .” 
With  this  may  be  compared  the  statement  in  Keating’s  History 2 
that  the  Irish  clergy  fasted  upon  Targesius  the  Lochlannach 
( do  troisceadh  fos  leo  air),  and  God  put  him  in  their  hands. 
Divine  interference  is  still  more  explicitly  said  to  have  been  the 
object  of  fasting  in  the  story  of  King  Raghallach  of  Connacht, 
whom  St  Fechin  of  Fobar  rebuked  for  unfaithfulness  to  his 
wife.  The  king  would  not  desist  from  his  sins,  and  the  clergy 
fasted  upon  him  and  prayed  that  he  might  die  a  vile  death. 
The  prayer  was  answered.3 

In  a  number  of  instances  fasting  is  said  to  have  been  done 
upon  or  against  God  himself.  According  to  the  Old  Irish 
“Saltair  na  Rann,”  4  when  Adam,  after  the  expulsion  from  Eden, 
was  doing  penance  in  the  Jordan,  he  prayed  the  river  with  its 
many  creatures  to  fast  with  him  upon  God  ( co  troisced  lais  for 
Dia).  The  stream  ceased  flowing  and  gathered  together  all 
its  beasts  to  pray  for  Adam’s  forgiveness,  which  God  granted, 
though  not  to  Adam’s  offspring.  In  the  Latin  “Vita  Adae  et 
Evae,”  from  some  form  of  which  the  Irish  account  is  apparently 

1  See  Stokes’s  edition  for  the  Henry  Bradshaw  Society,  p.  108.  Cf.  also  the  case  (on 
p.  204)  where  the  saints  fasted  for  Ciaran’s  death  and  obtained  it.  Here  no  one  is  men¬ 
tioned  as  fasted  against. 

2  Irish  Texts  Society  edition,  III,  p.  176. 

3  Quoted  from  Keating  by  Dr  Hyde,  Literary  History  of  Ireland ,  p.  233.  See  the 
Irish  Texts  Society  edition,  ill,  p.  134,  where  Father  Dinneen  translates  do  throiscsiod  air, 
“fasted  on  his  account.” 

4  See  Stoke’s  edition,  Anecdota  Oxoniensia ,  1892,  11,  1629  ff. 


THE  IRISH  PRACTICE  OF  FASTING  579 


derived,1  the  river  and  its  creatures  simply  condole  with  Adam. 
The  fasting,  which  is  there  attributed  to  Adam  and  Eve  only, 
may  have  been  understood  by  the  Irish  as  purely  penitential, 
though  they  described  it  in  terms  of  the  fast  for  distraint.  The 
same  may  be  true  of  a  case  in  the  “Senadh  Saighri”  where  the 
clergy  fasted  three  days  against  or  toward  God  ( co  n-dernsat  na 
cleirigh  treidhenus  fri  Dia )  to  obtain  the  dispersion  of  demons 
from  the  grave  of  Donnchadh,2  and  of  a  case  in  the  legend  of 
St  Michael  where  the  inhabitants  of  Sepontium  fasted  against 
God  and  Michael  ( rothroiscset  fria  Dia  acus  Michel )  to  procure 
aid  in  war  against  the  pagan  Neapolitans.3  But  the  persistence 
of  the  idea  of  hostility  or  compulsion,  even  in  cases  of  fasting 
upon  God,  is  well  shown  by  a  tale  of  three  clerks,  which  is  pre¬ 
served  in  the  “Book  of  Leinster”  and  the  “Book  of  Lismore.”  4 
They  agreed  that  they  would  recite  every  day  a  number  of 
psalms,  prayers,  or  hymns,  and  that  when  any  one  of  them  should 
die  the  others  would  share  his  portion.  When  the  first  clerk 
died,  his  psalms  were  divided  according  to  the  agreement.  But 
the  second  died  soon  after,  and  the  survivor  was  saddled  with  the 
obligations  of  all  three.  In  protest  against  the  injustice  he  fasted 
against  God,5  and  an  angel  came  to  tell  him  that  God  was  angry 

1  See  Wilhelm  Meyer’s  texts  and  discussion  in  Abhandlungen  der  Konigl.  Bayeri- 
schen  Akad.  der  IViss.,  xiv  (1878),  pp.  187  ff. 

2  See  the  Gaelic  Journal,  IV,  108. 

3  In  the  Leabhar  Brecc ,  222,  11.  40. 

4  The  Leinster  version  was  published  by  Gaidoz  in  Melusine,  iv,  6,  ff,  and  the 
Lismore  version  in  Stokes’s  Lives  of  the  Saints  from  the  Book  of  Lismore,  p.  ix. 

5  The  phrase  troscud  frissiomh  occurs  in  both  MSS.,  and  troscud  fair  in  the  Book  of 
Leinster.  It  is  interesting  to  note,  though  the  fact  may  be  of  no  significance,  that  when 
the  angel  blames  the  clerk  for  unlawful  fasting,  he  uses  a  term  ( troscud  indligthech) 
almost  identical  with  that  employed  in  the  “Senchus  Mor”  when  fasting  is  declared  un¬ 
lawful  after  a  pledge  of  payment  has  been  offered  to  the  creditor.  See  Ancient  Laws,  1, 
p.  1 14. 


580  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 

with  him  because  of  his  unlawful  fasting,  for  he  should  yet 
receive  mercy. 

Beside  these  cases  of  fasting  upon  God  may  be  put  one 
which  makes  opposite  application  of  the  same  principle.  In 
the  “Voyage  of  the  Sons  of  O’Corra”  1  Conall  Derg  says  to  his 
wife  that  it  is  a  pity  they  have  no  son,  and  proposes  that  they 
make  communion  with  the  Devil,  if  perchance  he  will  give  them 
an  heir.  “Thereupon  they  made  a  fast  against  the  Devil 
( doronsad  trosgadh  fria  demhan ),  and  the  woman  became 
straightway  pregnant.” 

In  some  accounts  of  the  oriental  dharna  and  related  cus¬ 
toms  mention  is  made  of  the  obligation  of  counter-fasting  on  the 
part  of  the  besieged  debtor.2  No  provision  of  this  sort  appears 
in  the  Brehon  laws,  and  there  has  been  no  suggestion  of  the 
practice  in  the  cases  thus  far  discussed.  But  a  few  instances 
which  remain  to  be  cited  furnish  clear  evidence  that  it  was  fa¬ 
miliar  to  the  Irish  mind,  whether  or  not  the  underlying  reason 
was  the  same  as  among  the  Eastern  peoples. 

The  first  of  these  stories  seems  to  be  somewhat  confused  in 
the  form  in  which  it  has  come  down  to  us.3  When  St  Patrick 
was  fasting  against  King  Loegaire  ( ina  troscad  fri  Dia  for  Loe¬ 
gaire ),  Angus  the  queen  held  by  Patrick  and  fasted.  Loegaire 

1  Stokes’s  edition,  Revue  celtique,  xiv,  26. 

2  See  particularly  Maine,  Early  Institutions ,  p.  299,  and  Stokes’s  comments  in  the 
Tripartite  Life,  p.  560,  n.  Hopkins,  op.  cit.  p.  157,  cites  a  remarkable  instance  of  counter¬ 
suicide  which  occurred  in  India  in  1894.  In  Elphinstone’s  History  of  India,  ed.  1843,  I, 
372,  the  counter-fasting  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  besieging  debtor  not  only  appeals 
to  the  creditor’s  honor,  but  also  stops  his  supplies.  Among  the  Irish  the  special  develop¬ 
ment  of  counter-fasting  may  be  connected  with  the  deep-seated  feeling  of  the  people 
concerning  the  obligations  of  hospitality  and  the  injury  offered  by  refusing  food  at  a 
man’s  house.  Compare  the  remarks  of  Professor  Kittredge  in  the  Harvard  Studies  and 
Notes  in  Philology  and  Literature,  VIII,  pp.  210  ff. 

3  It  is  printed  from  MS.,  Rawl.  B.  512  in  Stokes’s  Tripartite  Life,  pp.  556  ff. 


THE  IRISH  PRACTICE  OF  FASTING  581 


went  to  the  banquet-house  to  carouse,  but  she  kept  Enna,  her  son, 
with  her  and  refused  to  eat  while  Patrick  fasted.  When  the  boy 
asked  for  food,  she  said,  “It  is  not  fitting  for  you  to  eat  food, 
and  Patrick  a-fasting  upon  you.”  The  boy  answered:  “It  is 
not  upon  me  he  is  fasting,  but  upon  Loegaire.”  A  boiled  wether 
was  brought  to  the  boy,  and  the  first  morsel  he  ate  stuck  in  his 
breast,  and  he  died.  At  the  queen’s  request  Patrick  prayed  to 
Paul  and  Peter,  and  to  Mary  and  the  virgins,  to  restore  the  boy, 
but  to  no  avail.  Then  the  angel  Victor  told  Patrick  to  pray  to 
Michael,  whose  feast-day  it  was,  and  promise  him  the  first  por¬ 
tion  of  his  food,  and  furthermore  that  his  monks  should  always 
make  the  same  offering  on  that  day;  and  thus  was  established 
the  custom  of  killing  the  Michaelmas  sheep.  The  boy  was 
restored  to  life,  “and  from  him  are  all  the  O’Learys.”  1 

Another  case  of  counter-fasting  is  found  in  the  story  of  King 
Diarmait,2  who  held  Aed  Guaire  a  prisoner  at  Tara.  Ruadan, 
and  Brendan  of  Birr,  and  the  twelve  apostles  of  Ireland  came 
and  fasted  upon  him,  and  he  upon  them.  They  stayed  for  a  year 
before  Tara,  fasting  every  other  night,  while  the  king  fasted  with¬ 
in  the  city.  Then  Brendan  the  navigator  induced  Diarmait  to  re¬ 
lease  Aed  in  return  for  fifty  horses,  but  cheated  him  by  giving 
him  transformed  seals,  which  resumed  their  own  shape  in  a  year 
and  a  season.  In  anger  at  the  deception  Diarmait  shut  the  gates 
of  Tara  on  the  clergy,  and  they  resumed  fasting  against  each 
other.  At  last  Brendan  told  the  clergy  to  receive  meat  and  ale 

1  Keating  (Ir.  Texts  Soc’y  edition,  III,  p.  41)  has  the  story  of  the  miracle,  with  no 
mention  of  the  fasting.  The  Leabhar  na  g-Ceart,  on  the  other  hand,  refers  to  the  fasting  of 
Patrick  on  Lceghaire,  and  couples  it  with  the  fasting  of  the  saints  against  Diarmuid  as 
constituting  the  cause  of  the  destruction  of  royal  power  at  Tara.  See  O’Donovan’s  edition, 
P-  S3- 

2  Cited  from  the  Book  of  Lismore  by  Dr.  Hyde,  Literary  History  of  Ireland ,  p.  229. 
For  the  text  see  O’Grady,  Silva  Gadelica,  1,  pp.  66  ff. 


582  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


and  pass  them  into  the  bosoms  of  their  robes.  Diarmait  was  de¬ 
ceived  by  the  trick,  and  supposing  his  foes  to  have  eaten,  he  him¬ 
self  partook  of  food.  Thus  the  fasting  of  the  clergy  prevailed, 
with  just  what  effect  is  not  made  clear.  But  Mughain  the  queen 
had  thereafter  a  dream  of  evil  import,  and  the  story  ends  with 
the  cursing  of  Tara. 

In  an  Irish  life  of  Adamnan  1  there  is  a  similar  account  of 
rival  fasting,  combined  with  other  asperities,  between  Adamnan 
and  Irghalach.  Adamnan  took  to  fasting  all  night,  plunged 
in  the  cold  water  of  the  Boyne,  and  Irghalach  endured  the  same 
hardships.  But  at  last  Adamnan  got  a  cleric  of  his  monastery 
to  dress  up  like  him  and  tell  Irghalach  that  it  was  his  intention 
to  eat  and  sleep.  Irghalach  was  deceived  by  the  trick,  and 
Adamnan’s  fasting  prevailed.  The  unborn  child  of  Irghalach 
was  cursed,  so  that  when  born  he  lacked  one  eye. 

Doubtless  other  modifications  of  the  custom  of  fasting 
would  be  found  by  systematic  investigation.  But  the  cases 
which  have  been  given  exhibit  the  common  ideas  on  the  subject 
among  the  mediaeval  Irish,  and  the  historic  and  legendary  in¬ 
stances  have  some  bearing  on  the  interpretation  of  the  legal  pro¬ 
cedure  mentioned  in  the  beginning.  They  make  it  hard,  for 
example,  to  accept  the  opinion  recently  expressed  2  by  Monsieur 
d’Arbois  de  Jubainville,  that  the  fast  was  simply  “une  forme 
polie  du  commandement,”  and  again,  “un  produit  spontane  du 
christianisme  et  de  la  feodalite.”  It  is  doubtless  true,  as  M. 
d’Arbois  de  Jubainville  maintains,  that  the  practice  described  in 
the  “Senchus  Mor”  did  not  expose  the  life  of  the  creditor.  But 

1  See  Reeve’s  edition  of  Adanman’s  Vita  Columbae,  p.  liv,  n;  also  the  text  pub¬ 
lished  by  O’Grady,  Silva  Gadelica,  I,  pp.  406  ff. 

2  In  his  commentary  on  the  Senchus  Mor  ( Cours  de  Litterature  celtique,  VIII,  220). 


THE  IRISH  PRACTICE  OF  FASTING  583 


the  provision  that  the  debtor  should  be  liable  for  a  fraction 
of  the  plaintiff’s  death-fine  may  fairly  be  held  to  point  back 
to  a  stage  where  the  fasting  was  less  of  a  formality.  More¬ 
over,  in  the  examples  from  general  literature  that  have  been 
discussed  the  fasting  was  certainly  conceived,  not  as  an  exhi¬ 
bition  of  special  courtesy,  but  as  a  procedure  in  some  way  dan¬ 
gerous  to  resist.  This  conception  is  not  likely  to  have  been  of 
Christian  origin,  and  those  scholars  appear  to  be  right  who  would 
connect  the  whole  custom  with  the  practice  of  suicide  as  a  means 
of  revenge,  and  who  assume  it  to  have  derived  its  sanction,  in 
the  first  instance,  from  the  fear  of  some  supernatural  punish¬ 
ment  for  murder.1  There  is  no  reason  for  assuming  any  direct 
connection  between  Irish  and  Hindu  fasting,  or  any  contact  be¬ 
tween  the  Druids  and  the  Brahmins ;  and  M.  d’Arbois  de  Jubain- 
ville  is  doubtless  right  in  denying  that  the  customs  go  back  to  a 
common  Indo-European  legal  institution. 2  But  it  remains 
probable,  after  all,  that  they  are  both  very  ancient  and  had  their 
origin  in  the  same  general  conceptions.  These  may  well  have 
been  Indo-European,  though  they  were  not  confined  to  any  sin¬ 
gle  branch  of  the  human  family. 

Harvard  University 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts 


1  For  this  view  see  particularly  Maine,  in  the  places  already  cited;  also  Gaidoz,  in 
Melusine,  iv,  xo,  and  P.  W.  Joyce,  Social  History ,  I,  pp.  206-7.  Hopkins’s  article  gives 
considerable  illustration  from  oriental  sources.  A  possible  Irish  instance  of  this  kind  of 
suicide,  not  involving  fasting,  is  discussed  by  Stokes,  Lives  of  the  Saints  from  the  Book 
of  Lismore,  p.  295.  For  the  discussion  of  an  interesting  parallel  in  Greek  see  F.  Lot, 
Annales  de  Bretagne,  xi,  361. 

2  Op.  cit.,  viii,  222. 


DUSARES 


BY 

C.  H.  Toy 

MANY  Arabian  deities  are  known  to  us  by  name,  but  of 
most  of  them  little  is  known  besides  the  name;  in 
only  a  few  cases  are  there  descriptions  of  qualities  and 
functions.  The  majority  of  these  gods  appear  to  be  local  divine 
patrons,  like  the  Canaanite  Baals,  each  supreme  and  all-sufficient 
in  his  own  domain;  some,  however,  have  had  a  larger  role,  their 
fame  passed  beyond  Arabia  1  into  the  Graeco-Roman  world,  and 
their  characters  are  more  fully  developed. 

Certain  deities  of  Mecca,  the  chief  cultic  center  of  northern 
Arabia  in  pre-Mohammedan  times,  are  mentioned  in  the 
Koran.  The  most  important  of  these  are  the  three  goddesses 
Allat  or  Al-Lat  (“the  goddess”),  Al-Uzza  (“the  mighty  one”), 
and  Manat  (apparently  “the  disposer,  dispenser”) . 2  There  were 
other  centers  of  worship  besides  Mecca,  some  of  them  of  great 
influence.  The  shrine  of  the  god  Dhu’l  Halasa,  in  the  border¬ 
land  between  Hijaj  and  Mecca,  was  sometimes  called  the  Yemen¬ 
ite  Kaaba,  was  a  sort  of  rival,  that  is,  of  the  Meccan  shrine.  Of 
the  deities  of  the  southern  shrine  the  most  interesting,  because  of 

1  The  name  “Arabia”  includes  not  only  the  peninsula  proper,  but  also  the  desert 
running  up  to  the  Euphrates. 

2  Koran,  li.  19.  They  are  called  “daughters  of  Allah,”  a  term  that  Mohammed 
takes  in  a  literal  sense;  but  probably  the  original  meaning  was  that  they  belonged  to  the 
divine  circle,  as  the  Hebrew  expressions  “sons  of  God”  and  “sons  of  the  prophets”  describe 
persons  who  were  members  respectively  of  the  divine  court  and  the  prophetic  guilds. 


DUSARES 


585 


the  large  area  over  which  his  worship  extended,  is  Dhu  ash- 
Shara,  the  “Dusares”  of  the  Greeks.  His  supposed  connection 
with  a  certain  goddess  has  raised  a  question  of  general  interest 
for  the  history  of  Semitic  religious  cults,  and  it  is  this  question 
that  I  propose  to  examine  here,  prefixing  a  brief  statement  of  the 
history  of  the  god,  and  of  his  cult  so  far  as  it  is  known. 

I.  THE  CULT  AND  THE  NAME 

The  ancient  notices  of  Dusares  have  been  collected  and 
discussed  by  a  succession  of  writers,  particularly  by  Zoega  (“De 
orig.  et  usu  obeliscorum”,  p.  205),  who  is  followed  by  Movers 
(“Phcenizien”,  i.  337  ff.)  ;  Osiander  (in  “Zeitschr.  d.  deutsch. 
morgenl.  Gesellschaft,”  vii.  477)  ;  Levy  (in  “ZDMG,”  xiv.  464 
ff.)  ;  Mordtmann  (in  “ZDMG,”  xxix.  99  ff.)  ;  Wellhausen 
(in  “Reste  arab.  Heidentumes”,  on  which  see  Noldeke’s  review 
in  “ZDMG,”  xii.  707  ff.)  ;  Ed.  Meyer  (art.  “Dusares,”  in 
Roscher’s  “Lex.  d.  Griech.  u.  Rom.  Myth.”)  ;  Noldeke  (in  art. 
“Arabs  (Ancient)”  in  Hastings’s  “Encyclopaedia  of  Religion 
and  Ethics”). 

These  notices  show  that  the  worship  of  the  god  prevailed 
in  a  large  part  of  western  Asia.  The  details  may  be  summarized 
as  follows: 1  Dusares  is  said  to  be  the  special  deity  of  Arabia 
by  Tertullian  (circa  A.D.  200)  in  his  “Apologeticus,”  24,  and 
his  “Ad  iNationes,”  ii.  8;  and  this  statement  is  repeated  by 
Eusebius  in  his  Oration  in  praise  of  Constantine  (A.D.  335). 
For  central  and  northern  Arabia  we  have  the  statements 
of  a  couple  of  Arabic  writers:  Ibn  Hisham  (d.  834),  re¬ 
porting  the  words  of  an  earlier  writer,  Ibn  Ishak  (d.  768), 


1  The  supposed  allusion  to  Dusares  in  Herodotus  is  referred  to  below,  p.  598. 


586  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


mentions  the  Daus  tribe,  whose  abode  was  a  few  days’  journey 
south  of  Mecca,  and  Ibn  al-Kalbi  (d.  819)  the  Harith  tribe, 
as  addicted  to  this  worship.  For  the  Sinaitic  peninsula  there  is 
the  testimony  of  an  inscription  published  by  Levy  in  “ZDMG,” 
xiv.  464  ff.  Here  and  in  the  home  of  the  Daus  tribe  occurs  the 
proper  name  Abd.  dhu  ash-shara  (“servant  of  D.”),  which  is  an 
evidence  of  the  popular  worship  of  the  god.  The  Nabatean 
region  is  rich  in  records  of  Dusares,  mostly  in  the  form  of  in¬ 
scriptions.1  These  are  given  in  Euting’s  “Nabat.  Inschr.  aus 
Arabien,”  Nos.  2-4,  9,  11b,  20,  27;  De  Vogue’s  “Syrie  Centr,” 
Nos.  7a,  9;  Waddington’s  “Inscr.  gr.  et  lat.  de  la  Syrie,”  Nos. 
2023,  2312.  Waddington  refers  also  to  Saulcy,  “Musee  Parent,” 
1867,  p.  11.  Among  the  places  in  connection  with  which  the 
Dusares  cult  is  mentioned  in  these  inscriptions  are  Petra,  Bata- 
nea,  Bostra,  Adraa,  Umm  al-Jamal,  and  Saida;  and  Epiphanius 
adds  the  name  of  Elusa,  a  place  not  far  from  Petra.  Notices 
of  Dusares  are  found  also  in  the  dictionaries  of  Hesychius, 
Stephen  of  Byzantium,  and  Suidas,  which  add  some  details  of 
interest. 

The  Dusares  cult  seems,  thus,  to  have  been  practised  over 
the  Arabian  region  extending  from  the  northern  border  of 
Yemen  to  the  extremity  of  the  desert  on  the  north  and  east. 
What  gave  it  its  vogue  is  not  perfectly  clear;  but  as  the  name 
is  Arabic,  and  as  the  cult  prevailed  chiefly  among  the  Nabateans, 
we  may  conclude  that  these  people  carried  it  with  them  in  their 
wanderings.  It  is  probable  that  they  were  familiar  with  it  in 

1  The  Nabateans  were  an  Arabian  people  who  moved  northward  and  got  possession 
of  a  great  part  of  the  territory  between  the  Red  Sea,  Syria,  and  the  Euphrates.  The 
remains  of  their  capital,  Petra,  exhibit  signs  of  a  relatively  advanced  civilization.  When 
they  settled  in  an  Aramaic-speaking  region,  they  wrote  inscriptions  in  that  language.  Many 
of  their  inscriptions,  however,  are  in  Greek,  and  there  is  one  in  Latin. 


DUSARES 


587 

their  southern  home,  that  Dusares  was,  in  fact,  their  special  god, 
the  god  of  their  region.  There  were  other  Arabian  deities 
whose  worship  was  widely  extended,  particularly  Al-Uzza  and 
Al-Lat.  Lively  intercourse  existed  between  the  various  Arabian 
tribes;  and  a  partial  unity  of  religious  belief  had  arisen  in  the 
early  centuries  of  our  era,  as  appears,  among  other  things,  from 
the  fact  that  in  Mohammed’s  time  the  name  Allah  (which  is 
simply  al-ilahu,  “the  god,”  that  is,  the  local  god  of  any  region) 
was  readily  accepted  generally  as  the  name  of  the  supreme  deity. 
The  Greeks  and  Romans  of  the  early  centuries  were  especially 
acquainted  with  the  region  occupied  by  the  Nabateans,  and  it 
was  therefore  natural  for  Tertullian  and  others  to  speak  of  the 
Nabatean  deity  as  the  god  of  Arabia. 

The  general  signification  of  the  name  “Dusares”  may  be 
fixed  with  substantial  certainty,  but  the  precise  meaning  is 
doubtful.  The  older  etymologies,  many  of  which  are  mentioned 
by  Zoega,  may  be  passed  over  as  untenable.  The  prefix  dhu 
(which  is  the  demonstrative  pronoun  “that,”  and  so  “he”)  al¬ 
ways  points  to  a  person  who  is  connected  in  some  way  with  the 
thing  represented  by  the  following  word,  which  is  always  a  con¬ 
crete  substantive.1  The  dhu  thus  often  has  the  meaning  “pos¬ 
sessor,  lord,”  and  is  employed  in  divine  titles  in  the  same  way  as 
the  Canaanite  baal.  Such  titles,  frequent  in  Semitic  theology, 
indicate  the  local  character  of  the  divinities  to  which  they  belong. 
The  fact  that,  according  to  Arabic  usage,  the  second  element  in 
a  name  compounded  with  dhu  must  be  concrete,  excludes  the 
sense  “brightness”  in  this  connection.  If  shard  could  be  shown 

1  See  the  examples  given  in  Lane’s  Arab.-Eng.  Lexicon.  In  the  Koran  occur  dhu 
an-nun,  “he  of  the  fish”  (Jonah),  dhu  al-Karnain ,  “he  of  the  two  horns”  (Alexander  the 
Great),  and  other  such  titles. 


588  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


to  mean  “lightning”  or  “sun,”  then  “Dusares”  might  be  “the 
master  of  lightning,”  or  “the  lord  of  the  sun,”  like  the  Phoenician 
Baal-hamman ,  the  sun-god  (“lord  of  the  sun”);1  but  neither 
of  these  senses  has  been  proved  for  shard.2  Arabic  usage  favors 
the  view  that  it  is  the  name  of  a  place  or  of  a  tribe,  and,  as  no 
such  name  of  a  tribe  is  known, 3  the  probability  is  that  it  is  the 
name  of  a  place.  It  occurs  in  fact  in  the  sense  of  a  “tract  of 
land,”  and  in  connection  with  several  localities:  a  place  on  the 
road  from  Mecca  to  Syria  infested  by  lions,  mentioned  by  Ad- 
Damiri  in  his  work  on  animals;4  a  mountain  near  Mecca;  and 
a  swampy  region  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Euphrates.  It  is 
probable  that  other  places  were  so  called,  and  in  the  absence  of 
distinct  statements  by  early  writers  it  is  hardly  possible  to  fix 
with  certainty  the  region  from  which  the  god  received  his  name. 
Wellhausen  decides  for  the  Euphrates  tract  on  the  ground  that 
such  wild  and  fruitful  spots,  held  to  be  inhabited  by  Jinn,  were 
regarded  as  sacred  by  the  old  Arabs,  and  were  natural  sites  for 
shrines;3  but  there  were  shrines  in  many  other  places.6  The 
site  of  a  shrine  was  determined  by  various  sorts  of  theophanies 
and  by  other  conditions  and  events  of  which  notices  have  not 
come  down  to  us.  All  that  can  be  said  is  that  the  cult  of  Dusares 

1  Cf.  the  Sabean  dhu  samawi,  “the  lord  of  heaven,”  the  sky-god. 

2  W.  R.  Smith’s  argument  for  “god  of  lightning”  as  the  meaning  of  “Dusares” 
(in  his  Kinship,  note  8)  is  not  convincing.  On  the  later  interpretation  of  Dusares  as 
sun-god  see  below,  p.  590. 

3  Ed.  Meyer,  in  Roscher’s  Lexikon,  S.V.  “Dusares,”  mentions  a  suggestion  made  to 
him  that  shard  (in  Arabic,  sharay)  is  formally  identical  with  the  biblical  Sarai;  but  this 
fact  does  not  throw  any  light  on  the  signification  of  the  Arabic  title,  since  the  origin  of 
the  name  Sarai  is  obscure. 

4  Hayat  al-hayawan,  S.V.  Asad  (“the  lion”). 

5  Reste  arabischen  heidentumes,  p.  47.  See  the  references  in  this  work  and  in  Lane’s 
Arabic  Lexicon. 

6  The  shrine  of  Dusares  in  the  tribe  of  Daus  was  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain. 


DUSARES 


589 


prevailed  over  the  region  extending  from  the  northern  border 
of  Yemen  through  the  desert  up  into  Syria.  Its  diffusion  in  the 
north  appears  to  have  been  due  to  the  Nabateans;  but  the  early 
history  of  this  tribe  is  obscure.  We  do  not  know  its  original 
seat, 1  or  how  it  came  to  adopt  the  worship  of  this  deity.  It  may 
be  regarded  as  certain  that  Dusares  was  originally  a  local  god, 
invested  with  all  the  powers  usually  ascribed  to  Semitic  local 
gods  by  their  worshippers  —  not  limited  in  functions,  not  at¬ 
tached  particularly  to  any  power  or  object  of  nature,  but  capable 
of  doing  everything  that  a  divine  patron  might  be  expected  to 
do.  He  is  named  from  the  region  that  he  controlled,  he  was 
simply  the  lord  of  the  Shara.  It  is  not  known  whether  he  had 
any  other  name  —  a  name  derived,  for  example  (as  is  the  case 
with  some  Greek  deities),  from  his  connection  with  earth  or  sky, 
or  with  some  occupation  of  his  people.  Many  Semitic  gods 
were  known  only  by  their  titles  as  lords  of  certain  places;  such 
are  the  numerous  Phoenician  and  Canaanite  Baals  and  Meleks. 
The  chief  god  of  Tyre  was  called  simply  Melkart,  “the  king 
of  the  city.” 

Only  meager  notices  of  the  cult  of  Dusares  have  come  down 
to  us.  According  to  Suidas,  he  was  represented  at  Petra  by  a 
four-square  block  of  stone,  on  which  the  sacrificial  blood  was 
poured.  This  is  probable,  but  the  fact  is  not  distinctive  —  many 
gods  were  thus  represented  and  worshipped.2  In  the  territory 
of  the  Daus  tribe  there  was  a  hima  (a  temenos)  dedicated  to 
him,  and  in  it  a  pool  of  water,  in  which  probably  worshippers 

1  Strabo  (xvi,  4,  26)  speaks  of  them  as  dwelling  in  Arabia-Felix,  and  everything 
points  to  this  general  region  as  their  home;  but  what  precise  point  they  occupied  is  not  clear. 

2  W.  R.  Smith,  Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.  201  ff.,  301. 


590 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


performed  a  ceremonial  bathing. 1  The  details  of  the  ceremony 
are  not  recorded,  but  doubtless  some  notion  of  purification  was 
involved  in  it. 

In  the  course  of  time  Dusares  suffered  a  certain  transforma¬ 
tion.  In  the  Arabian  peninsula  he  was  the  god  of  nomadic 
tribes,  and  his  functions  corresponded  to  their  needs.  When 
the  Nabateans,  taking  him  with  them,  occupied  the  wine-growing 
region  of  the  Hauran,  he,  as  tribal  god,  became  a  patron  of  the 
vine.  The  architectural  ornaments  of  the  district  show  that  the 
culture  of  the  vine  was  a  prominent  feature  in  the  life  of  the 
people. 2  Coins  of  the  region  indicate  the  existence  of  some  sort 
of  festival  connected  with  the  worship  of  the  god. 3  It  was  nat¬ 
ural,  therefore,  that  the  Greeks  should  identify  him  with  their 
god  of  the  vine,  Dionysos, 4  and  the  Nabateans  themselves,  living 
in  a  Greek  atmosphere,  may  possibly  have  so  called  him.  But 
there  is  no  proof  that  he  had  any  other  point  of  contact  with 
Dionysos  than  patronage  of  the  vine  and  the  festivals  therewith 
connected.  Strabo  (xvi.,  4,  26),  writing  near  the  beginning  of 
our  era,  observes  that  the  Nabateans  worshipped  the  sun  with 
libations  and  the  use  of  frankincense,  whence  it  has  been  inferred 
by  some  modern  writers  that  Dusares  was  a  sun-god.  This,  how¬ 
ever,  by  no  means  follows.  The  worship  of  the  sun  may  have 
been  a  distinct  and  independent  cult.  Such  a  distinct  cult  there 
was  in  Arabia,  and  there  is  nothing  to  connect  Dusares  with  it 
particularly. 5  Still  less  can  it  be  maintained  that  he  represents 

1  Ibn  Hisham,  253. 

2  Waddington,  Inscriptions,  No.  2023. 

3  Eckhel,  Doct.  numm.  3,  178,  499. 

4  Hesychius  cites  a  certain  Isidore  as  saying  that  the  Nabateans  call  Dionysos 
Dusares. 

5  See  further  below,  p.  594. 


DUSARES 


59i 


“the  life  of  nature  which  in  winter  is  born  anew  and  manifests 
itself  especially  in  the  sun.” 1  Such  a  conception  is  not  Arabian, 
and  there  is  no  proof  that  Graeco-Roman  influence  had  expanded 
the  figure  of  Dusares  into  these  proportions. 

The  evidence  at  our  command  leads  us  to  conclude  that 
Dusares  was  and  remained,  up  to  the  time  when  he  was  effaced 
by  Islam,  a  tribal  god,  originally  a  local  divine  chief,  who,  after 
the  manner  of  all  ancient  deities,  the  Semitic  particularly,  ac¬ 
commodated  himself  to  the  changing  fortunes  of  his  worshippers, 
sometimes  assuming  a  new  function,  but  never  rising  to  the 
height  of  the  great  universal  Assyrian,  Babylonian,  Hebrew, 
and  Graeco-Roman  gods.  His  career  is  instructive  as  showing 
how  a  local  Semitic  deity  could  maintain  substantially  his  early 
character  in  the  midst  of  foreign  influences. 

II.  DUSARES  AT  PETRA 

A  notice  of  Dusares  by  Epiphanius,  Bishop  of  Constantia 
in  Cyprus  (fourth  century),  in  his  Panarion  (“Refutation  of 
Heresies”),2  has  given  rise  to  a  question  of  interest  for  the  his¬ 
tory  of  Semitic  religion  in  Arabia  and  Syria.  Epiphanius  is 
defending  the  church  doctrine  of  the  virgin  birth  of  Jesus,  and 
remarks  that  many  leaders  in  idolatrous  cults,  compelled  to  con¬ 
fess  a  part  of  the  truth,  have  tried  to  deceive  their  followers  by 
instituting  festivals  on  the  night  of  the  Epiphany.  He  mentions 
the  festival  held  in  Alexandria  in  the  Korion  (that  is,  the  teme- 
nos  of  the  Kore,  the  Divine  Maid),  in  which,  he  says,  an  image 
marked  with  the  sign  of  the  cross  was  carried  in  solemn  proces- 

1  So  Ed.  Meyer,  In  Roscher’s  Lexikon,  art.  “Dusares.” 

2  Published  by  CEhler  as  addendum  in  his  Corpus  Hereticorum,  II,  I.  632,  and  repro¬ 
duced  by  Mordtmann  in  ZDMG,  xxix,  99  ff. 


592 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


sion  on  that  night,  and  the  ministrants,  being  asked  the  meaning 
of  this,  replied  that  on  this  night  the  Kore  (that  is,  the  Parthenos) 
bore  the  Aion.  He  goes  on  to  say,  “The  same  thing  occurs  in  the 
idol  temple  of  the  city  Petra  (the  metropolis  of  Arabia,  called 
Edom  in  the  Scriptures).  They  sing  hymns  in  the  Arabic  lan¬ 
guage  to  the  virgin,  calling  her  in  Arabic  Chaabou ,  that  is,  Kore 
or  Parthenos,  and  to  her  son,  Dusares,  that  is,  the  only-begotten 
of  the  Lord.  The  same  custom  exists  in  Elusa  on  the  same  night 
as  in  Petra  and  Alexandria.” 

Epiphanius  lived  for  some  time  in  Egypt,  and,  though  his 
desire  to  find  confirmations  of  his  dogma  may  detract  from  the 
value  of  his  reports  in  certain  respects,  there  is  no  good  reason 
to  doubt  that  his  account  of  what  happened  in  Alexandria  is 
correct  so  far  as  regards  the  fact  of  the  ceremony.  It  was  a  pro¬ 
cession  in  honor,  probably,  of  Isis  and  Horus  —  divine  mother 
and  divine  child.1  What  he  calls  the  sign  of  the  cross  was  doubt¬ 
less  the  Egyptian  ankh  (a  tau-cross  surmounted  by  a  handle  in 
the  form  of  a  stirrup,  the  crux  ansata) ,  the  symbol  of  life  and 
divinity.  The  title  Kore  (which  he  interprets  as  identical  in 
meaning  with  parthenos)  is  in  Greek  the  name  of  the  goddess 
Persephone  (originally  the  maid-spirit  of  the  corn),  but  seems 
not  to  have  been  used,  in  Egypt,  of  Isis  or  any  similar  deity.  It 
was,  apparently,  under  the  influence  of  Greek  conceptions  that 
Epiphanius  employed  it  of  the  goddess  of  the  Alexandrian  cere¬ 
mony.  The  term  aion  appears  in  Valentinian  Gnosticism  as  the 

1  The  public  cult  of  Isis  continued  in  Egypt  after  the  establishment  of  Christianity 
as  the  official  religion  of  the  Empire  —  it  was  not  suppressed  till  the  end  of  the  fourth 
century.  See  Roscher’s  Lexikon,  art.  “Isis,”  cols.  371,  425.  This  article  gives  also  the  lit¬ 
erature  on  the  relation  between  the  Egyptian  cult  and  that  of  the  Madonna.  Erman,  in  his 
Egyptian  Religion ,  does  not  mention  a  midwinter  festival  of  Isis.  It  was,  perhaps,  a  lesser 
ceremony  that  Epiphanius  witnessed. 


DUSARES 


593 


designation  of  a  quasi-divine  figure;  whether  Epiphanius  had 
in  mind  an  etymology  of  the  name  Horus  or  some  other  name 
is  uncertain.  His  account,  though  in  the  main  trustworthy,  is 
colored  by  irrelevant  preconceptions.  The  same  remark  applies 
to  his  description  of  the  ceremony  at  Petra.  As  a  native  of  the 
Palestinian  city  Eleutheropolis,  which  is  not  far  from  Petra,  he 
had  opportunity  to  observe  or  to  learn  of  the  religious  rites  of  the 
latter  place ;  and  his  statement  may  be  accepted  in  general,  though 
the  precise  meaning  of  his  words  is  not  clear.  His  Chaabou  is 
generally  taken  to  be  the  Arabic  Ka'aba  1  (with  nominative 
ending,  Kaabu ),  a  term  (literally  “cube”)  that  is  used  both 
of  a  stone  block  and  of  a  temple;  but  a  slightly  different 
word  (from  the  same  stem),  Ka‘aba ,  is  an  epithet  of  a  girl  just 
maturing  (with  fully-formed  breasts),  though  not  necessarily  a 
virgin,  and  it  was  apparently  this  word  that  Epiphanius  had  in 
mind.  But  the  term  used  in  Petra  must  have  referred  to  a  stone 
block,  the  representation  of  some  deity:  he  appears  to  have 
adopted  the  meaning  that  suited  his  argument.  As  Dusares, 
according  to  Suidas,  was  worshipped  at  Petra  under  the  form 
of  a  cube  of  stone,  the  probability  is,  that  it  was  he  who  was  con¬ 
nected  with  the  term  Kaaba.  What  then  of  the  goddess  men¬ 
tioned  by  Epiphanius  as  the  mother  of  Dusares?  One  sugges¬ 
tion  is  that  he  gives  the  name  of  the  god  to  his  mother; 2  but  this 
cannot  be  said  to  be  probable.  Or  is  Dusares,  like  Mithra,  held 
to  be  born  from  a  rock?  3  An  influence  of  Mithraism  here  is  by 
no  means  impossible;4  for  though,  according  to  Cumont  (art. 

1  So  Rosch,  W.  R.  Smith,  Wellhausen,  Ed.  Meyer,  and  others. 

2  So  Rosch,  in  ZDMG,  xxxviii,  643  if. 

3  The  Mithra  stone  is  often  found  with  the  inscription  petra  genetrici. 

4  Cf.  Wellhausen,  Resle  Arab.  Heidentumes,  p.  46. 


594 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


Mithra  in  Roscher’s  “Lexikon”),  no  Mithra  inscriptions  have 
been  found  in  Syria,  the  cult  of  Mithra  was  established  in  the 
Mediterranean  islands  and  in  Sidon  and  Alexandria,  and  Epiph- 
anius,  living  in  Cyprus,  may  have  been  familiar  with  the  myth, 
and  may  have  applied  it  here.  The  divine  stone  would  then  be 
regarded  as  the  mother  of  the  god.  A  simpler  and  perhaps  more 
natural  explanation  is  that  Epiphanius,  hearing  of  two  deities, 
a  male  and  a  female  (the  latter  possibly  bearing  the  title 
“mother”),  and  having  in  mind  the  cult  of  Isis  and  similar  cults, 
naturally  assumed  that  the  one  deity  was  the  son  of  the  other. 
Of  his  statement  that  Dusares  was  “the  only-begotten  of  the 
Lord,”  it  is  difficult  to  find  a  satisfactory  explanation.  It  may 
be  the  arbitrary  transference  to  the  Petra  god  of  a  title  of  the 
Christ,  of  whom  he  held  Dusares  to  be  a  Pagan  imitation.  It 
is  not  likely  that  it  was  an  epithet  of  Dusares  current  in  Petra. 
There  is  no  evidence  of  the  existence  of  such  an  epithet,  and  a 
title  of  this  character  would  be  unexampled  elsewhere  in  Arabia. 
Nor  is  it  probable  that  it  is  the  product  of  a  fanciful  etymology 
of  the  name  Dusares  invented  by  Epiphanius  himself.  He  is 
said,  indeed,  to  have  been  linguistically  learned.  Jerome  calls 
him  “pentaglot,”  says  that  he  was  acquainted  with  Hebrew, 
Syriac,  Egyptian,  Greek,  and  Latin;  but  none  of  these  languages 
supplies  the  desired  explanation;  and  the  expression  monogenes , 
familiar  to  a  Greek,  seems  not  to  be  used  of  a  divine  person  except 
in  Christian  literature. 

The  fact  that  the  festival  at  Petra  was  held  at  the  winter 
solstice  is  supposed  by  some  to  point  to  the  worship  of  Dusares 
as  sun-god.1  This  is  not  necessarily  the  case.  Midwinter  festi- 


1  Cf.  the  statement  of  Strabo  quoted  above,  p.  590. 


DUSARES 


595 


vals  arose  in  many  parts  of  the  world  in  connection  with  the 
death  of  vegetation,  independently  of  the  cult  of  a  sun-god; 
they  were  naturally  associated  with  the  worship  of  the  local 
deity.  Dusares,  as  (apparently)  the  chief  god  of  the  Nabateans, 
would  occupy  a  place  of  honor  in  all  festivals,  while  maintaining 
his  character  as  tribal  god.  The  universality  of  his  functions 
as  tribal  patron  accounts  satisfactorily  for  all  that  is  attributed 
to  him.  Greek  writers  like  Strabo  and  Hesychius  naturally 
identified  him  with  Greek  deities;  but  this  sort  of  procedure  has 
no  historical  validity,  and  often  serves  only  to  obscure  the  real 
character  of  non-Hellenic  divinities. 

A  more  important  question  connected  with  the  Petra  cere¬ 
mony  is  whether  it  indicates  the  existence  among  the  Nabateans 
of  a  cult  of  mother  and  son,  and,  if  so,  whether  the  cult  is  origi¬ 
nally  Semitic.  The  conception  of  a  great  mother-goddess  is  a 
widespread  one;  it  goes  back  to  the  recognition  of  the  earth  as 
the  divine  source  of  life.1  Several  Semitic  deities  have  the  title 
“mother  of  the  gods,”  or  “great  mother,”  the  Babylonian  Ishtar, 
the  Carthaginian  Tanit,  and  the  Arabian  Al-Lat; 2  but  this  role 
never  assumed  in  Semitic  cults  the  importance  attached  to  it  in 
the  figures  of  the  Phrygian  Kybele  and  the  Greek  Demeter. 
Ishtar  is  the  kindly  mother  of  men,  but  becomes  a  great  protect¬ 
ing  deity,  and  particularly  a  patron  of  war;  and  of  a  general 
maternal  role  of  Tanit  and  Al-Lat  we  have  no  details.  The  con¬ 
ception  seems  not  to  have  commended  itself  greatly  to  the  Semitic 
peoples. 

1  Examples  from  various  peoples  are  given  in  Tylor’s  Primitive  Culture,  i.  326  ff. 

2  Jastrow,  Religion  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria,  p.  83;  Corp.  Inscript.  Semit,  No.  195; 
De  Vogue,  Nab.  8. 


596  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


As,  however,  some  Semitic  goddesses  have  the  title  “moth¬ 
er,”  it  is  conceivable  that  a  son  should  stand  by  the  side  of  the 
mother,  and  that  the  two  should  be  united  in  one  cult.  Such 
a  collocation  is  found  outside  of  the  Semitic  field,  the  best  ex¬ 
ample  of  combination  being  in  Egypt,  where  Isis  and  Horus 
frequently  appear  together,  the  latter  generally  as  an  infant  in 
arms.1  The  Phrygian  Attis,  though  sometimes  represented  as 
son  of  Kybele,  is  specifically  her  lover.  Dionysos  is  the  son  of 
Semele,  but  Semele  plays  no  part  in  the  worship  of  her  son.  In 
Semitic  cults  combinations  of  deities  are  generally  loose  and 
ineffective.  Married  pairs  hardly  occur  outside  of  Babylonia 
and  Assyria,  and  are  there  rather  formal  academic  associations 
than  family  unions.  Is'htar  is  in  the  old  epic  poetry  an  unmar¬ 
ried  goddess  who  takes  her  partners  at  will;  Tammuz  is  her 
lover  or  husband,  not  her  son;  and  so,  in  the  Syrian  form  of  this 
cult,  Adonis  is  the  beloved  of  Aphrodite  (that  is,  Astarte),  not 
her  son.  In  the  whole  Semitic  area  outside  of  Arabia,  we  do  not 
find  an  instance  of  the  worship  of  a  mother-goddess  and  her  son. 
It  is  held,  however,  by  some  scholars,  that  the  ceremony  at  Petra 
involves  the  existence  of  such  worship.  Such  is  the  view  of 
W.  Robertson  Smith,2  whose  argument  in  outline  is  as  follows: 

The  goddess  of  Petra  must  have  been  Al-Lat,  who  is  styled  among  the 
Nabateans  “the  mother  of  the  gods”;  and  as  she  is  represented  by  Epiphanius  as 
parthenos,  that  is,  unmarried,  a  male  deity  associated  with  her  could  only  be 
her  son.  Jerome’s  description  of  the  cult  at  Elusa  3  (said  by  Epiphanius  to  be 
identical  with  that  at  Petra)  is  not  opposed  to  this  conclusion.  He  says  that 
Venus  was  there  worshipped  ob  Luciferum :  the  Arabian  goddess  usually  identi- 

1  The  figures  of  Mut,  the  “mother,”  and  her  son  Khons,  seem  to  have  no  cultic 
significance. 

2  Given  in  his  Kinship  and  Marriage  in  Early  Arabia,  chap,  vi,  note  8. 

3  In  his  Vita  Sancti  Hilarionis,  cap.  25. 


DUSARES 


597 


fied  with  Venus  is  Al-Uzza  (the  “Venus”  of  Elusa  was  in  fact  the  goddess 
Al-Khalasa,  1  but  the  difference  of  name  is  of  no  importance).  “Al-Uzza,”  the 
“mighty  goddess,”  must  be  the  highest  title  of  a  female  deity,  and  the  goddess 
so  named  cannot  be  different  from  the  mother  of  the  gods.  Now,  it  appears  from 
Ephrem’s  description  of  her  that  her  worship  was  licentious,  2  and  therefore  a 
single  male  god  associated  with  her  must  be  her  son.  As  to  Jerome’s  “Lucifer,” 
he  should  be  Dusares,  since,  according  to  Epiphanius,  the  Elusa  cult  was  identical 
with  that  of  Petra.  The  term  appears  as  a  title  of  Azizus,  3  that  is,  Aziz  (the 
male  counterpart  of  Al-Uzza),  who  was  worshipped  at  Edessa  in  the  time  of 
Julian,  and  in  various  Dacian  inscriptions  has  the  titles  bonus  puer  posphorus 
(sic)  Apollo  Pythius:  as  Phosphorus  he  is  Lucifer;  as  Puer  he  is  the  Dusares  of 
Epiphanius;  as  Apollo  he  is  the  Arabian  archer-god  Kozah,  an  Idumean  deity.  4 
Dhu  ash-  Shara  is  most  easily  taken  as  meaning  the  “lightning  god,”  and  thus 
seems  to  be  only  an  epithet  of  Kozah. 

In  all  these  details,  apart  from  the  statement  of  Epiphanius, 
there  is  nothing  to  show  the  existence  of  an  Arabian  cult  of 
mother  and  son.  So  far  as  Jerome’s  notice  of  the  worship  at 
Elusa  is  concerned,  the  enigmatical  expression  ob  Luciferum 
at  any  rate  does  not  convey  the  impression  that  the  god  was  sub¬ 
ordinate  to  the  goddess  ;  if  there  had  been  a  relation  of  son  to 
mother,  Jerome  would  probably  have  mentioned  it. 5  Smith 
refers  to  certain  cases  of  collocation  of  two  deities  in  various 

1  Tuch,  in  ZDMG,  iii,  193  ff.  [It  is  not  probable  that  Al-Khalasa  is  the  name 
of  a  goddess.  The  god  worshipped  at  Tabala  was  styled  Dhu  al-  khalasa,  a  name  that 
Smith  improperly  renders  “son  of  al-Khalasa.”  It  means  “lord  of  al-Kh”;  but  the 
signification  of  the  latter  term  is  doubtful.] 

2  Ephrem  Syrus,  Op.  Syr.,  ii,  457;  cf.  Isaac  Antioch.,  i,  246. 

3  In  ZDMG,  xxxii,  565. 

4  Josephus,  Antiquities,  xv,  7,  9. 

5  As  Al-Uzza  was  commonly  identified  with  Venus,  who  represented  the  morning- 
star,  and  as  Lucifer  also  was  a  name  of  this  star  (cf.  Isa.  xiv,  12),  a  simple  construction 
of  Jerome’s  words  would  be  that  the  goddess  was  worshipped  because  of  her  identification 
with  the  god  of  the  morning-star,  Lucifer.  The  difference  of  gender  is  not  important. 
Jerome’s  purpose  apparently  was  simply  to  point  out  the  relation  between  two  deities,  and 
in  Latin  “Lucifer”  is  a  name  for  the  planet  Venus  as  morning-star. 


598  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


places.  Thus  Herodotus  (iii.  8) ,  speaking  of  the  Arabians,  says, 
“They  acknowledge  as  gods  only  Dionysos  and  Urania  ....  they 
call  Dionysos  Orotal  and  Urania  Alilat.”  Alilat  is  doubtless 
Al-Lat,  “the  divine  being,’1  naturally  rendered  by  Herodotus 
“the  heavenly  one.”  The  name  “Orotal”  has  hitherto  defied  all 
attempts  at  explanation.  It  may  represent  Hobal,  or  Dusares, 
or  some  other  great  god;  1  but  Herodotus  does  not  say  that  the 
relation  between  the  two  deities  was  that  of  son  and  mother,  or 
that  their  cults  were  connected  with  each  other.  So  as  to  Hobal 
and  Al-Uzza,  the  chief  god  of  the  Koreish  in  the  Meccan  temple 
- — they  are  never  spoken  of  by  native  or  other  ancient  authorities 
as  forming  a  cultic  pair.  The  notices  of  Al-Wathanain,  “the  two 
idols,”  as  the  rendering  of  Alush  (Num.  xxxiii.  13)  in  the 
Arabic  version  published  by  Lagarde,  and  of  Al-Sanamain,  “the 
two  images,”  Tuche  and  Zeus  (in  ZDMG  xxxix.  44),  are  so 
vague  that  no  conclusion  as  to  the  cults  they  represent  can  be 
drawn  from  them.  In  a  polytheistic  system  the  worship  of  two 
divinities  in  the  same  place  and  in  the  same  temple  cannot  be 
surprising;  but  such  collocation  in  itself  proves  nothing  as  to  the 
relation  between  the  two. 

As  is  remarked  above  (p.  588),  there  is  no  ground  for  re¬ 
garding  Dusares  as  specifically  a  lightning-god,  and  more  gen¬ 
erally,  if  he  held  arrows  in  his  hand  and  gave  lots  by  them,  this 
is  not  a  distinctive  function.  Hobal  at  Mecca  and  Dhu’l-Halasa 
at  Tabala  gave  oracular  responses  in  this  way,  and  probably  the 
method  was  general;  the  use  of  arrows  for  drawing  lots  was 

1  Hobal  and  Al-Lat  may  have  been  prominent  at  Mecca  in  the  fifth  century  B.c. 
Later,  as  we  have  seen  (p.  590,  above),  Dusares  was  identified  by  the  Greeks  with  Dionysos, 
but  there  is  no  sign  that  in  the  time  of  Herodotus  an  intimate  cultic  relation  existed 
between  Dionysos  and  Harmonia  —  she  was  then  associated  with  Kadmos  as  his  wife 
(Euripides,  Baccha,  1356). 


DUSARES 


599 


common  among  the  Arabs,  for  example,  in  determining  the 
share  of  a  slain  camel  that  each  man  was  to  have. 1 

From  this  review  of  the  evidence  we  are  justified  in  con¬ 
cluding  that,  outside  of  the  statement  of  Epiphanius,  there  is  no 
known  record  of  any  Semitic  cult  of  mother  and  son.  The 
licentious  feasts  of  the  Edomites  referred  to  by  Bar-Hebraeus 
(in  his  commentary  on  Ps.  xii.  9),  if  they  have  any  connection 
with  Petra,  could  only  be  like  the  similar  ceremonies  in  Syria 
and  elsewhere,  a  feature  in  a  cult  of  a  goddess  and  her  lover. 
The  Petra  festival  might  be  regarded  as  an  importation  from  a 
non-Semitic  community,  and  Egypt  would  then  be  naturally 
thought  of.  The  Egyptian  cult  related  to  a  goddess  and  her  in¬ 
fant  son,  but  Epiphanius  does  not  say  that  Dusares  was  an  infant, 
though  perhaps  he  leaves  this  to  be  inferred  from  his  statement 
that  the  Petra  ceremony  was  identical  with  that  of  Alexandria. 2 
A  Mithraic  or  Greek  influence  is  conceivable,  and  such  a  one 
(though  there  is  no  direct  evidence  of  its  existence)  may  be  sup¬ 
posed  to  have  affected  the  cult  at  Petra. 

Perhaps,  however,  there  was  no  such  influence,  and  in  that 
case  it  is  supposable  that  Epiphanius’s  evident  disposition  to  find 
parallels  to  the  Christian  cult  of  mother  and  son,  as  it  existed 
in  his  time  and  place,  may  have  led  him  to  read  into  an  Arabian 
ceremony  what  it  did  not  properly  contain.  Knowing  of  the 
worship  of  two  deities,  a  male  and  a  female,  at  Petra  and  Elusa, 
he  might  naturally  take  it  to  be  identical  with  that  at  Alexandria ; 

1  One  such  procedure  is  described  in  the  Commentary  on  v.  22  of  the  Moallakat  of 
Imru’l-Kais. 

2  Wellhausen  ( Reste  Arab.  Heidentumes ,  pp.  46  ff.)  properly  remarks  that  no 
Semite  ever  thought  of  his  god  as  a  child.  Semitic  deities  are  masterful  patrons  and  rulers; 
the  epithets  applied  to  them  usually  signify  lordship. 


6oo 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


and,  understanding  the  term  Kaaba  to  mean  “virgin,”  his  theo¬ 
logical  view  would  force  him  to  regard  Dusares  as  the  son  of 
the  virgin  goddess.  In  fact,  Al-Lat  and  Al-Uzza  are  unmarried, 
but  neither  of  them  appears  in  Arabic  authors  as  having  a  son. 


Cambridge,  Massachusetts 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  FREDERIC  WARD  PUTNAM 


COMPILED  BY 

Frances  H.  Mead  1 


1855 

1.  Notes  on  Palinurus  perciformis 

(Mitch.)  [and  other  fish  in  Sa¬ 
lem  Harbor],  ( Salem  Register , 
lvi,  no.  64. 

2.  Notes  on  Temnodon  saltator  [and 

other  fish  in  Salem  Harbor], 
{Ibid.,  no.  71.) 

1856 

3.  List  of  fishes  of  Essex  county,  Mas¬ 

sachusetts,  1855-56.  {Proceed¬ 
ings  of  the  Essex  Institute ,  Sa¬ 
lem,  1,  144,  148,  201-23 1.) 

4.  A  singular  case  of  mortality  of  fish 

in  a  pond  in  Salem,  1855.  {Ibid., 
145.) 

5.  Catalogue  of  the  birds  of  Essex 

county,  Massachusetts,  with 
notes;  and  a  list  of  species  found 
in  the  State  but  not  known  from 
the  county.  {Ibid.,  201-23 1.) 


1861 

6.  On  Pomotis,  Bryttus  and  Esox, 

1859.  {Proceedings  Boston  So¬ 
ciety  of  Natural  History ,  VII,  3- 
4.  34>  156. 

7.  Annual  Report  of  Curator  Ichthy¬ 

ology,  Boston  Society  of  Natural 
History,  i860.  {Ibid.,  280- 
281.) 

8.  The  Whale  and  the  Dolphin  at  the 

Aquarial  Gardens.  {Boston  Ad¬ 
vertiser,  Sept.  30.) 

1862 

9.  Report  in  behalf  of  the  Committee 

on  Ornithology,  2  Essex  Institute, 

1855- 1862.  {Proceedings  Essex 
Institute,  Salem,  II,  9-12.) 

10.  Remarks  before  the  Essex  Institute, 

1856- 59.  {Ibid. ,  40,  47,  205, 

209,  215,  300,  378,  380.) 


1  Acknowledgment  is  hereby  made  to  Miss  Jane  Smith  and  Mrs  S.  F.  Fletcher  for 
voluntary  aid  in  the  preparation  of  this  Bibliography.  —  F.  H.  M. 

2  In  1856  Professor  Putnam  was  appointed  Curator  of  Ornithology  in  the  Essex  Insti¬ 
tute.  His  annual  reports  are  incorporated  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Institute,  1856-1864.  In 
1864  he  became  Curator  of  Vertebrata,  and  in  1866  was  appointed  Superintendent  of  the 
Museum  (see  No.  40). 


602 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


n.  Bufo  fowleri,  Putnam.  A  discus¬ 
sion  before  the  Essex  Institute. 
{Ibid.,  282.) 

12.  Note  on  the  coloration  of  Fishes, 

1859.  {Ibid.,  366.) 

13.  Note  of  the  nests  of  Fishes,  1859. 

{Ibid.,  367.) 

14.  Note  on  two  living  specimens  of 

Scaphiopus  taken  at  Cambridge, 
Massachusetts.  {Proceedings  Bos¬ 
ton  Society  of  Natural  History, 
viii,  178.) 

1863 

15.  List  of  fishes  sent  by  Museum  of 

Comparative  Zoology  to  differ¬ 
ent  institutions,  in  exchange  for 
other  specimens,  with  annotations. 
{Bulletins  Museum  of  Compar¬ 
ative  Zoology,  Cambridge,  I,  no. 
1,  16  p.) 

1864 

16.  Remarks  before  the  Essex  Institute, 

1860-63.  {Proceedings  of  the 
Essex  Institute,  Salem,  ill,  84-85, 
89,  98,  99,  hi,  1 1 4- 1 1 5 ,  1 1 6- 
1 1 8,  125,  129,  183,  192,  201, 
202,  233,  287,  289,  290,  294, 
298.) 

17.  Notes  on  the  zoology  of  Salem. 

{Ibid.,  220.) 

18.  Number  of  species  of  reptiles  and 

batrachia  in  Essex  co.  {Ibid., 
22  3.) 

19.  A  singular  fossil  animal  in  the  lith¬ 

ographic  stone  of  Solenhofen. 
{Ibid.,  232.) 

1865 

20.  On  Snakes,  1862.  {Proceedings 


Boston  Society  of  Natural  His¬ 
tory,  IX,  60-62,  69-70.) 

21.  On  the  “Red-backed  Salamander,” 

Plethodon  erythronotus,  1862. 
{Ibid.,  173.) 

22.  Distribution  of  fresh  water  fishes 

of  North  America,  1862.  {Ibid., 
178,  233.) 

23.  On  young  of  a  spider,  1863.  {Ibid., 

202.) 

24.  Remarks  on  ichthyology,  1863. 

{Ibid.,  224,  226,  248,  334-) 

25.  On  Frogs  and  Toads  about  Cam¬ 

bridge,  Mass.,  1863.  {Ibid., 
229-230.) 

26.  An  interesting  specimen  of  the 

genus  Belont.  {Ibid.,  325-326.) 
1866 

27.  Notes  on  the  habits  of  some  species 

of  Humble  Bees,  1863.  {Pro¬ 
ceedings  Essex  Institute,  Salem, 
—  Communications  v,  IV,  98- 
104.) 

28.  Notes  on  the  Leaf-cutting  Bee, 

1863.  {Ibid.,  Communications 
vi,  IV,  105-107.) 

29.  Remarks  before  the  Essex  Institute, 

1864-65.  {Ibid.,  ix-xi,  xix,  lii, 
lv,  lx,  Ixxiv-lxxv,  lxxix,  cxxxvi, 
cliv,  clix,  clxii-clxiii,  clxxx.) 

30.  On  the  death  of  Dr.  R.  H.  Wheat- 

land,  1864.  {Proceedings  Boston 
Society  of  Natural  History,  x,  I- 
2.) 

31.  On  assumption  of  male  plumage  by 

a  Pea-hen,  1864.  {Ibid.,  25.) 

32.  On  the  fish  fauna  of  the  Great 

Lakes,  1864-65.  {Ibid.,  64,  65, 
240.) 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


603 


33.  Remarks  on  ichthyology,  1864-65. 

{Ibid.,  68,  1 8 1 ,  21 1.) 

34.  Annual  Report  of  Curator  of  Ich¬ 

thyology,  1865.  {Ibid.,  132-134.) 

35.  On  Indian  grave  on  Winter  island, 

Salem,  1865.  {Ibid.,  246-247.) 

36.  On  reproduction  of  lost  parts  in 

reptiles.  {Ibid.,  278.) 

37.  Annual  Report  of  the  Curator  of 

Ichthyology.  {Ibid.,  372-373.) 

1867 

38.  Appendix  to  D.  H.  Storer’s  A  His¬ 

tory  of  Fishes  of  Massachusetts. 
{Memoirs  American  Academy  of 
Arts  and  Sciences,  Cambridge 
and  Boston,  ix,  278-280.) 

1868 

39.  Remarks  before  the  Essex  Institute, 

1866-67.  {Proceedings  Essex 
Institute,  Salem,  v,  1,  4,  1 5-1 7 » 
59,  63,  67,  82,  107,  109,  1 19, 
120,  134,  154,  163,  172.) 

40.  Report  of  Superintendent  of  Mu¬ 

seum  of  Essex  Institute,  1866. 
{Ibid.,  28-33-) 

41.  Resolution  passed  by  the  Essex  Insti¬ 

tute  on  gift  of  $140,000  from 
George  Peabody  for  the  promo¬ 
tion  of  science  and  useful  knowl¬ 
edge  in  the  County  of  Essex, 
1867.  {Ibid.,  1 16.) 

42.  Report  of  Superintendent  of  Mu¬ 

seum  of  Essex  Institute,  1867. 

{Ibid.,  138-139-) 

43.  Resolution  passed  by  the  Essex  In¬ 

stitute  extending  thanks  to  Louis 
Agassiz  for  successful  efforts  in 
the  passage  of  law  enabling  scien¬ 


tific  societies  to  obtain  alcohol 
free  of  excise  tax,  1867.  {Ibid., 
140.) 

44.  On  Indian  remains  in  Essex  county, 

1867.  {Ibid.,  186,  197-199.) 

45.  New  England  Reptiles  in  April, 

1867.  {American  Naturalist , 
Salem,  1,  107-108.) 

46.  Annual  Report  of  Curator  of  Ich¬ 

thyology,  1867.  {Proceedings 
Boston  Society  of  Natural  His¬ 
tory,  XI,  172-173.) 

1869 

47.  Remarks  before  the  Essex  Institute, 

1868.  {Proceedings  Essex  Insti¬ 
tute,  Salem,  vi,  6,  25,  26,  39,  45, 
50.) 

48.  Report  of  Superintendent  of  Mu¬ 

seum  of  Essex  Institute,  1868. 
{Ibid.,  20-21.) 

49.  On  shellheaps,  and  on  certain  arch¬ 

aeological  specimens,  1868.  {Ibid., 
3i.) 

50.  Resolution  passed  by  Essex  Institute 

on  the  death  of  Horace  Mann, 
1868.  {Ibid.,  54-55.) 

51.  On  the  McNeil  collection  from  Cen¬ 

tral  America,  1868.  {Ibid.,  56.) 

52.  Annual  Report  of  the  Curator  of 

Ichthyology,  1868.  {Proceedings 
Boston  Society  of  Natural  His¬ 
tory,  xil,  17.) 

53.  On  aboriginal  utensils  from  Nica¬ 

ragua,  1868.  {Ibid.,  218.) 

54.  The  McNeil  expedition  to  Central 

America,  1868.  {American  Nat¬ 
uralist,  Salem,  11,  484-486,  612- 

613.) 


604  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


55.  Do  snakes  swallow  their  young? 

1868.  {Ibid.,  133-143.) 

56.  Resolution  offered  at  a  meeting  of 

the  Essex  Institute  on  the  dona¬ 
tion  of  $140,000  to  found  the 
Peabody  Academy  of  Science, 

1868.  {Ibid.,  680.) 

57.  Report  of  Director  of  the  Museum 

of  the  Peabody  Academy  of 
Science.  {First  Annual  Report 
Peabody  Academy  of  Science, 
Salem,  40-52.  3  diagrams). 

1870 

58.  Notice  of  the  Eighteenth  Meeting 

of  the  American  Association  Ad¬ 
vancement  of  Science  held  in 
Salem,  1869.  {American  Nat¬ 
uralist,  Salem,  ill,  223.) 

59.  Skates’  eggs  and  young,  1869. 

{Ibid.,  617-630,  12  ill.) 

60.  Two  rare  specimens  of  Indian  carv¬ 

ing  wrought  from  steatite,  1869. 
{Bulletin  Essex  Institute,  Salem, 
I,  21,  1  ill.) 

61.  On  monstrosities  in  Trout,  1869. 

{Ibid.,  31-32.) 

62.  Remarks  before  Essex  Institute, 

1869.  {Ibid.,  50,  52,  99,  102- 
103,  139.) 

63.  Annual  Report  Superintendent  of 

Museum,  Essex  Institute,  1869. 
{Ibid.,  83-84.) 

64.  Remarks  on  stone  and  copper  imple¬ 

ments  from  Wakefield,  1869. 
{Ibid.,  90.) 

65.  On  shellheaps  in  Essex  county,  Mas¬ 

sachusetts,  1869.  {Ibid.,  123.) 

66.  On  skulls  of  several  species  of  Bears, 

and  a  molar  tooth  of  a  Bear 


found  in  a  shellheap  on  Goose 
island,  Massachusetts,  1869. 
{Ibid.,  138.) 

1871 

67.  Acceptance  of  appointment  as  Di¬ 

rector  of  Museum,  Peabody 
Academy  of  Science,  at  time  of 
dedication  of  the  Academy,  Au¬ 
gust  18,  1869.  {Second  Annual 
Report  Peabody  Academy  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  Salem,  5-6.) 

68.  Report  of  Director  of  Museum  Pea¬ 

body  Academy  of  Science,  1869. 
{Ibid.,  53-60.) 

69.  Report  of  Director  of  Museum 

Peabody  Academy  of  Science, 

1870.  {Third  Annual  Report  of 
Peabody  Academy  of  Science, 
Salem,  71-76.) 

70.  On  the  great  mound  in  St.  Louis, 

1870.  {American  Naturalist, 
Salem,  iv,  62-63.) 

71.  On  the  young  of  Orthagoriscus 

mola,  1870.  {Ibid.,  629-633.  4 
ill.) 

72.  Note  on  American  Panther,  1870. 

{Ibid.,  692.) 

73.  Note  on  Deer’s  horns,  1870.  {Ibid., 

762-763.) 

74.  Note  on  E.  D.  Cope’s  Classification 

of  Fishes,  1870.  {Ibid.,  V,  593-) 

75.  Formation  of  the  Mammoth  Cave. 

{Ibid.,  739-744.  Reprinted  in 
The  Mammoth  Cave  and  Its  In¬ 
habitants,  by  A.  S.  Packard  and 
F.  W.  Putnam,  Salem,  1879.) 

76.  Remarks  before  the  Essex  Institute, 

1870.  {Bulletin  Essex  Institute, 
Salem,  II,  48,  164.) 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


77.  Annual  Report  of  Superintendent 

Museum  of  Essex  Institute,  1870. 
{Ibid.,  73-74-) 

78.  Report  on  various  zoological  speci¬ 

mens  collected  from  Chadwick’s 
pond,  1870.  {Ibid.,  90-93.) 

79.  On  the  structure  of  Fishes,  1870. 

{Ibid.,  iio-iii.) 

80.  On  Indian  stone  implements,  1870. 

{Ibid.,  1 6 1.) 

81.  On  the  Mt.  Washington  Meteoro¬ 

logical  Station,  1870.  {Ibid., 
164.) 

82.  Note  on  Hemiramphus  from  Dan¬ 

vers  mill-pond,  1870.  {Ibid., 
171.) 

83.  Note  on  abnormal  growth  of  incisor 

teeth  of  the  Woodchuck,  1870. 
{Ibid.,  172.) 

84.  On  the  occurrence  of  Euleptorham- 

phus  longirostris  on  the  coast  of 
Massachusetts,  1870.  {Proceed¬ 
ings  Boston  Society  of  Natural 
History,  xm,  236-240.) 

85.  Note  on  the  Pimelodus  cyclopum  of 

Humboldt.  {American  Natural¬ 
ist,  Boston,  v,  694-697.) 

1872 

86.  Remarks  on  Turtles,  1870.  {Pro¬ 

ceedings  Boston  Society  of  Natu¬ 
ral  History,  XIV,  17-18.) 

87.  Resolutions  of  sympathy  and  aid 

offered  to  Chicago  Academy  of 
Sciences  at  time  of  Chicago  fire, 
1871.  {Ibid.,  386-387.) 

88.  Remarks  before  the  Essex  Institute, 

1871-  {Bulletin  Essex  Institute, 
Salem,  ill,  29,  75,  88.) 


605 

89.  The  new  Australian  fish,  1871. 

{Ibid.,  40-41.) 

90.  Annual  Report  of  Superintendent  of 

Museum,  Essex  Institute,  1871. 
{Ibid.,  65-66.) 

91.  Fishes  in  Wenham  lake,  1871. 

{Ibid.,  88-90.) 

92.  Indian  relics  from  Beverly,  1871. 

{Ibid.,  123-125.  Two  plates 

afterward  published,  ibid.,  xxvil, 
opposite  p.  89,  Salem,  1897.) 

93.  Resolutions  of  sympathy  and  aid 

offered  the  Chicago  Academy  of 
Science  at  time  of  Chicago  fire, 
1871.  {Ibid.,  ill,  136-138.) 

94.  Ancient  fortification  on  the  Wabash 

river,  1871.  {Ibid.,  148-155.  3 
ill.) 

95.  Blind  Fishes  of  Mammoth  Cave  and 

their  allies,  1871.  {Ibid.,  165- 
178.  Reprinted  in  The  Mam¬ 
moth  Cave  and  its  Inhabitants, 
by  A.  S.  Packard  and  F.  W.  Put¬ 
nam,  Salem,  1879.) 

96.  Report  of  Director  of  Museum,  Pea¬ 

body  Academy  of  Science,  1871. 
{Fourth  Annual  Report  Peabody 
Academy  of  Science,  Salem,  7- 
I3-) 

97.  Synopsis  of  the  family  Heteropygii, 

1871.  {Ibid.,  15-23.) 

98.  Blind  Fishes  of  Mammoth  Cave  and 

their  allies.  {American  Nat¬ 
uralist,  Salem,  vi,  6-30,  2  pi.,  2 
fig.  Reprinted  in  The  Mam¬ 
moth  Cave  and  its  Inhabitants, 
by  A.  S.  Packard  and  F.  W.  Put¬ 
nam,  Salem,  1879.) 


6o6  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


99.  The  Etheostomoids.  ( American  Nat¬ 

uralist,  Salem,  vi,  109-115.  5 

ill.) 

100.  Young  of  the  Blind  Fish.  {Ibid., 

116-117.  Reprinted  in  Mam¬ 
moth  Cave  and  its  Inhabitants, 
by  A.  S.  Packard  and  F.  W.  Put¬ 
nam,  Salem,  1879.) 

101.  Note  on  Eels.  {American  Nat¬ 

uralist,  Salem,  vi,  449.) 

102.  Note  on  the  inhabitants  of  Mam¬ 

moth  Cave.  {Ibid.,  554.  Re¬ 
printed  in  Mammoth  Cave  and 
its  Inhabitants,  by  A.  S.  Packard 
and  F.  W.  Putnam,  Salem, 

1879.) 

103.  Rattle  of  the  Rattlesnake.  {Amer¬ 

ican  Naturalist ,  Salem,  vi,  693- 
694.) 

104.  The  Blind  Fishes  of  the  Mammoth 

Cave  and  their  allies.  {Nature, 
VI,  41 5-41 7.  Reprinted  from 
American  Naturalist,  VI,  1872.) 

1873 

105.  On  the  Caterpillars  and  Pupae  of 

the  Cabbage  Butterfly,  1872. 
{Bulletin  Essex  Institute,  Salem, 
IV,  9.) 

106.  The  Rattle  of  the  Rattlesnake, 

1872.  {Ibid.,  65.) 

107.  Account  of  archaeological  research¬ 

es  at  Jeffries’  Neck,  Ipswich, 
1872.  {Ibid.,  79-80.) 

108.  Resolutions  on  death  of  Dr.  Wm. 

Stimpson,  1872.  {Ibid.,  IV, 

88.) 

109.  On  Indian  shellheaps  in  Massachu¬ 

setts,  1872.  {Ibid.,  122-123.) 


no.  On  egg  case  of  the  Skate,  1872. 
{Ibid.,  1 23-1 24.) 

111.  Description  of  an  ancient  Indian 

carving  found  in  Ipswich,  1872. 
{Ibid.,  156-158.  I  ill.) 

1 1 2.  On  the  great  antiquity  of  Man, 

1872.  {Ibid.,  168.) 

1 13.  Description  of  an  ancient  fortifi¬ 

cation  on  the  Wabash  river, 
1872.  {Proceedings  Boston  So¬ 
ciety  of  Natural  History,  xv,  28- 
35,  2  ill.) 

1 14.  Note  on  ancient  races  of  America, 

their  crania,  migrations,  and 
greatest  development  in  Mexico 
and  Peru,  1872.  Ibid.,  228- 
229.) 

1 15.  Report  of  Director  of  Museum, 

Peabody  Academy  of  Science, 

1872.  {Fifth  Annual  Report 
Peabody  Academy  of  Science, 
Salem,  7-14.) 

1 16.  Tadpoles  in  winter.  {American 

Naturalist,  Salem,  vil,  497-498.) 

1874 

1 1 7.  Notes  on  Liparis  and  Cyclopterus , 

1873.  Abstract.  {Proceedings 
American  Association  Advance¬ 
ment  of  Science,  Salem,  xxii, 
335-340.) 

11 8.  Description  of  a  few  stone  knives 

found  in  Essex  county,  Massa¬ 
chusetts,  1873.  {Bulletin  Essex 
Institute,  Salem,  v,  80-86.  3  ill.) 

1 19.  On  stone  implements  and  a  carved 

stone,  representing  a  cetacean, 
found  at  Seabrook,  N.  H.,  1873. 
{Ibid.,  111-114.  I  ill.) 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


607 


120.  Remarks  on  toads  and  fishes,  1873. 

(Ibid.,  124-125.) 

1 21.  Note  on  Col.  John  Wells  Foster, 

1873.  (Ibid.,  124.) 

122.  Remarks  before  the  Essex  Institute, 

1873.  (Ibid.,  124,  151-152.) 

123.  Description  of  a  stone  knife  found 

at  Kingston,  N.  H.,  1873.  (Ibid., 
125,  1  ill.) 

124.  Fishes  of  Chebacco  pond,  1873. 

(Ibid.,  141-142.) 

125.  Obituary  remarks  on  Louis  Agas¬ 

siz,  1873.  (Ibid.,  v,  205-207.) 

126.  Remarks  on  the  Liparidae,  1873. 

(Proceedings  Boston  Society  of 
Natural  History,  XVI,  114.) 

127.  Notes  on  the  Myxinidae,  1873. 

(Ibid.,  1 27-1 35,  I  table.) 

127a.  Report  of  Director  of  Museum, 
Peabody  Academy  of  Science, 
1 873.  (Sixth  Annual  Report, 
Peabody  Academy  of  Science, 
Salem,  7-12.) 

128.  Notes  on  the  genus  Bdellostoma. 

(Proceedings  Boston  Society  of 
Natural  History,  XVI,  156-160.) 

129.  Notes  on  the  Ophidiidae  and  F i er¬ 

as  fer  id  ae.  (Ibid.,  339-348,  3  ill-) 

130.  Remarks  on  the  family  Nemophi- 

dae.  (Ibid.,  366-373,  I  ill.) 

13 1.  Gobiosoma  molestum  from  the 

Ohio  river.  (American  Natur¬ 
alist,  Salem,  vm,  233-234.) 

132.  The  Mammoth  Cave  in  Kentucky. 

(Salem  Register,  lxxv,  no.  97.) 

1875 

133.  Note  on  teaching  natural  history 

in  the  schools,  1874.  (Bulletin 
Essex  Institute,  Salem,  vi,  8-IO.) 


134.  On  rare  fishes  from  the  harbors 

of  Marblehead,  Salem  and  Bev¬ 
erly,  1874-  (Ibid.,  II,  13.) 

135.  Indian  remains  from  Essex  county, 

Massachusetts,  1874.  (Ibid.,  17- 
I9-) 

136.  Description  of  the  Blackfish  in  Sa¬ 

lem  harbor,  1874.  (Ibid.,  22-24.) 

137.  Note  on  the  development  of  the 

arts  of  engraving  and  printing, 
1874.  (Ibid.,  70.) 

138.  Notice  of  Indian  skull  from  shell- 

bed  on  Rock  island,  Illinois,  1874. 
(Ibid.,  70-72.) 

139.  Note  on  tooth  of  a  Shark,  1874. 

(Ibid.,  72.) 

140.  Remarks  on  the  death  of  Alpheus 

Crosby,  1874.  (Ibid.,  74.) 

1 41.  Note  on  shellheaps  at  Ipswich, 

1874.  (Ibid.,  hi.) 

142.  Note  on  Chauliodus  Sloani  caught 

on  George’s  Banks,  1874.  (Ibid., 

ill.) 

143.  Notes  on  fishes  and  insects  from 

Ipswich  river,  1874.  (Ibid., 

121.) 

144.  Note  on  Indian  implements,  1874. 

(Ibid.,  1 2 1.) 

145.  The  Anderson  School  of  Natural 

History  on  Penikese  island,  1874. 
(Ibid.,  I43-I44-) 

146.  Account  of  the  scientific  work  of 

Professor  Jeffries  Wyman.  Res¬ 
olutions  on  his  death,  1874. 

(Ibid.,  152-153.) 

147.  Opening  address  at  field  meeting, 

Manchester,  1874.  (Ibid.,  156- 
I57-) 


6o8  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


148.  Remarks  on  Mammoth  Cave  and 

some  of  its  inhabitants,  1874. 
{Ibid.,  19 1-200.  Reprinted  in 
Mammoth  Cave  and  its  Inhabi¬ 
tants.  By  A.  S.  Packard  and  F. 
W.  Putnam,  Salem,  1879.) 

149.  Notice  of  important  archaeological 

discoveries  of  the  Hayden  Expe¬ 
dition,  1874.  {Ibid.,  204-205.) 

150.  Resolutions  on  the  death  of  Jeffries 

Wyman,  1874.  {Proceedings 
Boston  Society  of  Natural  His¬ 
tory,  xvii,  125.) 

1 5 1.  On  the  Fishes  and  Crayfishes  of 

Mammoth  Cave,  1874.  {Ibid., 
221-225.  Reprinted  in  Mam¬ 
moth  Cave  and  its  Inhabitants,  by 
A.  S.  Packard  and  F.  W.  Put¬ 
nam,  Salem,  1879.) 

152.  On  the  male  and  female  organs  of 

Sharks  and  Skates,  with  special 
reference  to  the  use  of  “claspers,” 
1874.  Abstract.  By  F.  W. 
Putnam  and  S.  W.  Garman. 
{Proceedings  American  Associa¬ 
tion  Advancement  of  Science,  Sa¬ 
lem,  xxiii,  B.  1 43- 1 44.) 

153.  On  the  Anderson  School  of  Natur¬ 

al  History  at  Penikese,  1874.  Ab¬ 
stract.  {Ibid.,  144-146.) 

154.  History  of  the  Hartford  Meeting, 

American  Association  Advance¬ 
ment  of  Science,  1874.  {Ibid., 
I50-I55-) 

155.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary, 

Hartford  Meeting,  American  As¬ 
sociation  Advancement  of  Science, 
1874.  {Ibid.,  171-173.) 


156.  Obituary  notice  of  Jeffries  Wy¬ 

man,  1874.  {Proceedings  Amer¬ 
ican  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sci¬ 
ences,  Boston,  n.  s.,  11,  496-505.) 

157.  Archaeological  researches  in  Ken¬ 

tucky  and  Indiana,  with  descrip¬ 
tion  of  Salt  Cave.  {Proceedings 
Boston  Society  of  Natural  His¬ 
tory,  xvii,  314-332.) 

158.  The  pottery  of  the  Mound  Build¬ 

ers.  {American  Naturalist,  Sa¬ 
lem,  IX,  321-338,  393-409.  68 

ill.,  3  pi.  Reprinted  from  Eighth 
Report  Peabody  Museum  of  Am¬ 
erican  Archaeology  and  Ethnolo¬ 
gy,  Harvard  University.) 

159.  Archaeological  exploration  in  In¬ 

diana  and  Kentucky.  {Ameri¬ 
can  Naturalist,  Salem,  IX,  410- 
415.  Reprinted  from  Eighth  Re¬ 
port  Peabody  Museum  of  Amer¬ 
ican  Archaeology  and  Ethnology, 
Harvard  University.) 

160.  Memorial  to  Legislature  of  Mas¬ 

sachusetts  for  a  scientific  survey 
of  the  Commonwealth.  [As 
representative  of  the  Essex  Insti¬ 
tute].  {House  Document,  no. 
184,  p.  5-8,  Boston.) 

1876 

1 61.  Archaeological  researches  in  Ken¬ 

tucky,  1875.  {Bulletin  Essex  In¬ 
stitute,  Salem,  vn,  2-9.) 

162.  Fortifications,  and  other  enclosures, 

made  by  the  Indians  and  the  old¬ 
er  races  in  North  America,  1875. 
{Ibid.,  56.) 

163.  Notice  of  shellheaps  and  Indian  rel- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


ics  at  Newbury,  1875.  ( Ibid 
106-107.) 

164.  Remarks  on  Indian  shellheaps  and 

the  Thoreau  collection,  1875. 
(Ibid.,  138.) 

165.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary, 

Detroit  Meeting,  American  As¬ 
sociation  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  1875.  ( Proceedings  Am¬ 

erican  Association  Advancement 
of  Science,  xxiv,  335-338,  354- 
357-) 

166.  The  Swallow  Archaeological  col¬ 

lection  from  New  Madrid,  Mo., 
1875.  ( Reports  Peabody  Muse¬ 

um  of  American  Archaeology  and 
Ethnology,  Cambridge,  I,  16-46, 

69  ill) 

167.  Archaeological  explorations  in  Ken¬ 

tucky  and  Tennessee,  1875. 
(Ibid,,  47-52.) 

168.  Ninth  Annual  Report  Curator 

Peabody  Museum  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology, 
1876.1  (Ibid.,  7-23.) 

1877 

169.  On  some  of  the  habits  of  the  Blind 

Crayfish,  and  the  reproduction  of 
lost  parts,  1875.  (Proceedings 
Boston  Society  of  Natural  His¬ 
tory,  xvill,  16-19.) 

170.  On  the  Ancient  Peruvians,  1876. 

(Bulletin  Essex  Institute,  Salem, 
vm,  34-36.) 

1 71.  On  ancient  gold  images  from 


609 

graves  near  Bogota,  1876.  (Ibid., 
53.) 

172.  On  Indian  and  Esquimaux  skulls, 

1876.  (Ibid.,  66-67.) 

173.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary, 

Buffalo  Meeting,  American  As¬ 
sociation  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  1876.  (Proceedings  Amer¬ 
ican  Association  Advancement  of 
Science,  Salem,  XXV,  361-363.) 

174.  History  of  The  Buffalo  Meeting, 

American  Association  Advance¬ 
ment  of  Science,  1876.  (Ibid., 
34I-344-) 

1878 

175.  On  a  piece  of  Mexican  sculpture 

found  near  Acapulco,  1877. 
(Bulletin  Essex  Institute,  Salem, 
IX,  69-71.) 

176.  Remarks  on  development  in  cera¬ 

mic  art  and  ornamentation  among 
American  nations,  1877.  (Ibid., 
77-78.) 

177.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary, 

Nashville  Meeting,  American 
Association  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  1877.  (Proceedings  Amer¬ 
ican  Association  Advancement  of 
Science,  Salem,  xxvi,  367-372, 
393-396.) 

178.  Remarks  on  the  Common  Eel. 

(Proceedings  Boston  Society  of 
Natural  History,  xix,  279-280.) 


1  These  Annual  Reports  as  Curator  of  the  Peabody  Museum  of  Harvard  University, 
from  1876  to  date,  contain  many  important  details  of  Professor  Putnam’s  archaeological  explora¬ 
tions  in  the  United  States. 


6io 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


179.  Ancient  American  pottery.  A 

Criticism  on  Prime’s  Pottery  and 
Porcelain.  (Nation,  New  York, 
xxvi,  8.) 

1879 

180.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary,  St. 

Louis  Meeting,  American  Asso¬ 
ciation  Advancement  of  Science, 
1878.  ( Proceedings  American 
Association  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  Salem,  xxvn,  341-346.) 

1 8 1 .  Archaeological  explorations  in  Ten¬ 

nessee,  1878.  (Bulletin  Essex 
Institute,  Salem,  X,  72-85,  10  ill.) 

182.  The  Mammoth  Cave  and  its  in¬ 

habitants.  By  A.  S.  Packard  and 
F.  W.  Putnam.  Salem.  (8vo, 
62  pp.,  2  pi.,  15  figs.) 

183.  Circular  letter  proposing  to  estab¬ 

lish  a  Society  for  the  purpose  of 
furthering  and  directing  archaeo¬ 
logical  investigation  and  research. 
By  Charles  W.  Eliot,  Alexander 
Agassiz,  W.  Endicott,  Jr.,  W. 
W.  Goodwin,  Augustus  Lowell, 
F.  W.  Putnam,  Martin  Brim¬ 
mer,  T.  G.  Appleton,  E.  W. 
Gurney,  Henry  P.  Kidder,  C.  C. 
Perkins,  C.  E.  Norton.  Cam¬ 
bridge. 

This  is  the  Archaeological  Institute  of  Amer¬ 
ica.  See  First  Annual  Report  of  that  organ¬ 
ization,  Cambridge,  1880. 

Since  the  organization  of  the  Committee  on 
American  Archaeology,  Professor  Putnam  has 
been  an  active  member  of  that  Committee. 
The  annual  reports  of  the  committee  are  pub¬ 
lished  in  the  Supplements  to  the  annual  vol¬ 
umes  of  the  American  Journal  of  Archeology, 
beginning  vol.  ix,  n.  s.,  1905. 


184.  The  Southern  Californians.  (Re¬ 

port  upon  U.  S.  Geographical 
Surveys  West  of  the  One  Hun¬ 
dredth  Meridian,  vn  —  Archaeo- 
ology  —  Part  I,  Archaeology  and 
Ethnology  of  Southern  Califor¬ 
nia,  1 -3 1.)  Washington,  Gov¬ 
ernment  Printing  Office. 

185.  Perforated  stones  (from  Califor¬ 

nia,  Africa,  India,  Swiss  Lakes, 
Denmark,  South  and  Central 
America).  (Ibid.,  135-189,  I 
pi.,  18  fig.) 

186.  Sculptures.  (Ibid.,  218-221,  3  ill.) 

187.  Implements  and  weapons  made  of 

bone  and  wood.  By  C.  C.  Ab¬ 
bott  and  F.  W.  Putnam.  (Ibid., 
222-233,  1  pi.,  12  fig.) 

188.  Textile  fabrics  and  basket-work. 

(Ibid.,  239-250.  1  PL  3  fig-) 

189.  Ornaments.  (Ibid.,  251-262,  1  pi., 

9  fig-) 

190.  Iron  implements  and  other  articles 

obtained  by  contact  with  Euro¬ 
peans.  (Ibid.,  272-276,  1  pi.,  2 
fig-) 

191.  Ruins  in  the  Canon  de  Chelle. 

(Ibid.,  Part  II,  The  Pueblo 
Ruins  and  the  Interior  Tribes, 
372-373,  I  Pi-) 

192.  Implements  of  stone,  pottery,  and 

other  objects  found  in  New  Mex¬ 
ico  and  Arizona.  (Ibid.,  374- 
390,  4  pl.) 

193.  [Editorial  notes  and  insertions  in 

papers  written  by  others.]  (Ibid., 
xvii-xx,  46-47,  50-52,  68,  83, 
103-105,  109-111,  112-113,  1 16, 
1 18,  121,  132,  134,  192,  193- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


61 1 


194,  195-196,  200-201,  202-203, 
205-207,  211-213,  214-217,  237- 
238,  266,  267,  319,  322,  326, 
340,  341,  348,  355.  361,  363, 
366.) 

1880 

194.  Tenth  Annual  Report  Curator 

Peabody  Museum  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology, 

1877.  ( Reports  Peabody  Muse¬ 
um  American  Archaeology  and 
Ethnology,  Cambridge,  II,  7-26.) 

195.  Eleventh  Annual  Report  Curator 

Peabody  Museum  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology, 

1878.  (Ibid.,  191-220.) 

196.  Archaeological  exploration  in  Ten¬ 

nessee,  1878.  (Ibid.,  305-360, 
55  ill.,  1  plan.) 

197.  Manufacture  of  soapstone  pots  by 

the  Indians  of  New  England, 
1878.  (Ibid.,  273-276,  I  ill.) 

198.  Twelfth  Annual  Report  Curator 

Peabody  Museum  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  in¬ 
cluding  a  notice  of  Cahokia 
Mound,  1879.  (Ibid.,  466-496, 
3  plans.) 

199.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary, 

Saratoga  Meeting,  American  As¬ 
sociation  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  1879.  (Proceedings  Amer¬ 
ican  Association  Advancement  of 
Science,  Salem,  xxvm,  563-567.) 

200.  Thirteenth  Annual  Report  Curator 

Peabody  Museum  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  1880. 
(Reports  Peabody  Museum  Am¬ 


erican  Archaeology  and  Ethnolo¬ 
gy,  Cambridge,  11,  7 15-751.) 

201.  Egyptian  antiquities  found  in  Am¬ 

erica.  (American  Art  Review, 
Boston,  1,  part  1,  254-255,  1  ill.) 

1881 

202.  Remarks  on  chambered  mounds  of 

Missouri,  1879.  (Proceedings 
Boston  Society  of  Natural  His¬ 
tory,  xx,  304-305.) 

203.  Remarks  on  some  bones  of  New 

England  Indians  and  on  archaeo¬ 
logical  explorations  in  Tennes¬ 
see,  1879.  (Ibid.,  331-333.) 

204.  Remarks  on  the  ornamentation  of 

some  aboriginal  American  pot¬ 
tery,  1879.  (Ibid.,  333.) 

205.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary, 

Boston  Meeting,  American  As¬ 
sociation  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  1880.  (Proceedings  Amer¬ 
ican  Association  Advancement  of 
Science,  Salem,  xxix,  756-763.) 

206.  The  former  Indians  of  Southern 

California,  as  bearing  on  the  ori¬ 
gin  of  the  Red  Man  in  America, 
1880.  Abstract.  (Bulletin  Es¬ 
sex  Institute,  Salem,  XII,  4-6.) 

207.  On  Pueblo  Indians  of  New  Mexi¬ 

co  and  Arizona,  1880.  (Ibid., 
178-183,  2  ill.) 

208.  Were  ancient  copper  implements 

hammered  or  moulded  into 
shape?  (Kansas  City  Review, 
v,  490.) 

209.  A  review  of  Evans’s  Bronze  Age 

in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 
(The  Independent,  New  York, 
XXXIII,  9-10.) 


6l2 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


210.  Ancient  American  pottery,  a  re¬ 

view  of  Potter  and  Evers's  Con¬ 
tributions  to  the  Archaeology  of 
Missouri.  { Scientific  American, 
New  York,  xi,  suppl.  261,  4161- 
4163,  28  ill.) 

21 1.  Pueblo  pottery.  ( American  Art  Re¬ 

view,  Boston,  11,  part  I,  1 51-154, 
1  pi.,  2  fig.) 

212.  Palaeolithic  Implements  of  the 

Delaware  valley.  A  discussion 
before  the  Boston  Society  of  Nat¬ 
ural  History.  ( Proceedings  Bos¬ 
ton  Society  of  Natural  History, 
XXI,  147-149.) 

213.  Archaeological  Explorations  at 

Madisonville,  Ohio.  ( Harvard 
University  [Library]  Bulletin, 
Cambridge,  II,  no.  6,  216-218.) 
[Reprinted  in  Cincinnati  Enquir¬ 
er,  July  15,  1881.] 

1882 

214.  On  the  methods  of  manufacture  of 

early  American  pottery,  1881. 
( Bulletin  Essex  Institute,  Salem, 
xiii,  167-168.) 

215.  Report  Permanent  Secretary,  Cin¬ 

cinnati  Meeting,  American  Asso¬ 
ciation  Advancement  of  Science, 
1881.  ( Proceedings  American 

Association  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  Salem,  xxx,  392-393.) 

216.  Sketch  of  Lewis  H.  Morgan.  ( Pro¬ 

ceedings  American  Academy  of 
Arts  and  Sciences,  Boston,  n.  s., 
IX,  429-436.) 

217.  Stone  implements  found  at  Marsh¬ 

field.  ( Boston  Evening  Tran¬ 
script,  Feb.  4,  1882.) 


218.  The  use  of  copper,  bronze  and  sil¬ 

ver  in  North  and  South  America. 
{Ibid.) 

219.  The  Maine  shellheaps.  {Portland 

Advertiser,  Portland,  Me.,  Dec. 

23,  1882.) 

1883 

220.  Note  on  pottery  vessel  from  St. 

Francis  river,  Arkansas,  1880. 
{Proceedings  Boston  Society  of 
Natural  History,  XXI,  90-91.) 

221.  Remarks  on  a  carved  bone  found  at 

Scarborough,  Maine,  1880. 

{Ibid.,  107-108.) 

222.  Remarks  on  the  Palmer  Archaeolog¬ 

ical  collection  from  Coahuila, 
Mexico,  1880.  {Ibid.,  1 18-120.) 

223.  Palaeolithic  implements  from  Wake¬ 

field,  1881.  {Ibid.,  122-123.) 

224.  Archaeological  exploration  at  Mad¬ 

isonville,  Ohio,  1881.  {Ibid., 

216,  222.) 

225.  Remarks  on  oolite-like  conglomer¬ 

ate  from  Mammoth  Cave,  1881. 
{Ibid.,  233.) 

226.  Remarks  on  stone  implements  from 

Marshfield,  Mass.,  and  Sag  Har¬ 
bor,  New  York,  1882.  {Ibid., 

405-406.) 

227.  Remarks  on  the  Robinson  collec¬ 

tion  from  shellheap  at  Ipswich, 
1882.  {Bulletin  Essex  Institute, 
Salem,  xiv,  161-163.) 

228.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary, 

Montreal  Meeting,  1882.  {Pro¬ 
ceedings  American  Association 
Advancement  of  Science,  Salem, 
xxxi,  640-643.) 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


229.  Annual  Report  of  Commissioners 

on  Inland  Fisheries  for  the  year 
1882.  By  E.  A.  Brackett,  Asa 
French  and  F.  W.  Putnam. 
Public  Documents,  No.  2 5,  Bos¬ 
ton  :  State  Printers,  1883.  8° 

58  p. 

230.  Iron  from  the  Ohio  mounds: 

a  review  of  the  statements  and 
misconceptions  of  two  writers  of 
over  sixty  years  ago.  ( Proceed¬ 
ings  American  Antiquarian  So¬ 
ciety,  Worcester,  n.  s.,  11,  349- 
363.  18  ill.) 

231.  An  account  of  recent  archaeological 

explorations  in  Wisconsin  and 
Ohio.  Abstract.  {Ibid.,  Ill,  4- 
20.) 

232.  Archaeological  frauds.  ( Science , 

Cambridge,  I,  99.) 

233.  An  Indian  burial  mound.  {Ibid., 

168.) 

234.  Stone  graves  of  the  Cumberland 

valley.  {Ibid.,  292.) 

235.  Damariscotta  shellheaps.  {Port¬ 

land  Advertiser,  Portland,  Me., 
Feb.  7,  1883.) 

236.  Notes  on  copper  implements  from 

Mexico.  {Proceedings  American 
Antiquarian  Society,  Worcester, 
n.  s.,  II,  235-246.  8  ill.) 

236a.  Shellheaps  on  the  coast  of  Maine. 

{Science,  Cambridge,  I,  319.) 
236b.  Altar-mounds  in  Anderson  town¬ 
ship,  Ohio  (Turner  group). 
{Ibid.,  348-349-) 

236c.  Ancient  cemetery  at  Madison- 
ville,  Ohio.  {Ibid.,  373'374-) 
236d.  Mound  exploration,  Little  Miami 


613 

valley  (Turner  group).  {Ibid., 
496-497.) 

1884 

237.  Abnormal  human  skull  from  stone- 

graves  in  Tennessee.  Abstract. 
1883.  {Proceedings  American  As¬ 
sociation  Advancement  of  Science , 
Salem,  xxxn,  390-392.) 

238.  A  new  stand  for  skulls.  Abstract. 

1883.  {Ibid.,  392-393-) 

239.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary, 

Minneapolis  Meeting,  American 
Association  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  1883.  {Ibid.,  493-497") 

240.  First  notice  of  Pine  Grove  or  For¬ 

est  River  Shellheap,  1883.  {Bul¬ 
letin  Essex  Institute,  Salem,  XV, 
86-92.) 

241.  Chipped  stone  implements,  1883. 

{Ibid.,  137-142,  19  ill.) 

242.  Note  on  earthworks  of  Little 

Miami  valley,  1883.  {Proceed¬ 
ings  Boston  Society  of  Natural 
History,  XXII,  358.) 

243.  Note  on  emblematic  mounds  in 

Wisconsin  and  Ohio.  {Ibid., 
432.) 

244.  Remarks  on  curiosity  as  an  incen¬ 

tive  to  research,  1884.  {Bulle¬ 
tin  Essex  Institute,  Salem,  xvi, 
154-156.) 

245.  Annual  Report  of  the  Commission¬ 

ers  on  Inland  Fisheries  for  the 
year  1883.  By  E.  A.  Brackett, 
Asa  French  and  F.  W.  Putnam. 
Public  Documents ,  No.  25. 
Boston:  State  Printers,  1884. 
8°,  1 17  p. 


6i4  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


246.  Human  foot-prints  found  in  tufa 

near  the  shore  of  Lake  Managua, 
Nicaragua.  Abstract.  ( Proceed¬ 
ings  American  Antiquarian  So¬ 
ciety,  Worcester,  n.  s.,  ill,  92- 
93-) 

247.  Human  under-jaw  found  in  gravel 

at  Trenton,  New  Jersey.  Ab¬ 
stract.  {Ibid.,  93.) 

1885 

248.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary, 

Philadelphia  Meeting,  American 
Association  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  1884.  {Proceedings  Amer¬ 
ican  Association  Advancement 
of  Science,  Salem,  xxxm,  715- 
7I9-) 

249.  Annual  Report  of  Commissioners 

on  Inland  Fisheries  for  the  year 
1884.  By  E.  A.  Brackett,  F.  W. 
Putnam,  and  E.  H.  Lathrop. 
Public  Documents ,  No.  25.  Bos¬ 
ton:  State  Printers,  1885.  8°, 

107  p. 

250.  Report  of  Director  of  Museum, 

Peabody  Academy  of  Science, 
1874.  Abstract.  {Annual  Re¬ 
ports  Peabody  Academy  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  1874  to  1884,  Salem,  21- 
22.) 

1886 

251.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary, 

Ann  Arbor  Meeting,  American 
Association  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  1885.  {Proceedings  Amer¬ 
ican  Association  Advancement  of 
Science,  Salem,  XXXIV,  552-555.) 

252.  On  methods  of  archaeological 

research  in  America,  1885. 


{Johns  Hopkins  University  Cir¬ 
culars,  Baltimore,  v,  no.  49,  89.) 

253.  Explorations  in  the  Little  Miami 

valley.  [Letter  from  Peabody 
Museum  Camp  in  Ohio,  Sept. 
20.]  {Boston  Sunday  Herald, 
Oct.  24.  Reprinted  in  Peabody 
Museum  Reports,  III,  549-554.) 

254.  The  Altar  mounds  of  the  Turner 

group  in  Ohio.  [Letter  from 
Peabody  Museum  Camp  in  Ohio, 
Oct.  2.]  {Boston  Sunday  Her¬ 
ald,  Nov.  8.  Reprinted  in  Pea¬ 
body  Museum  Reports,  III,  554- 
562.) 

255.  The  Serpent  Mound.  [Letter 

from  Peabody  Museum  Camp  in 
Ohio,  Oct.  5.]  {Boston  Sunday 
Herald,  Nov.  21.) 

256.  Account  of  continued  explorations 

of  mounds  in  Ohio  by  C.  L. 
Metz  and  F.  W.  Putnam,  1885. 
Abstract.  {Proceedings  Ameri¬ 
can  Antiquarian  Society,  Worces¬ 
ter,  n.  s.,  iv,  9-10.) 

257.  Central  American  jades.  {Ibid., 

62-64.) 

258.  Note  on  Alaskan  jade.  {Ibid., 

64.) 

259.  Annual  Report  of  Commissioners 

on  Inland  Fisheries  for  the  year 
1885.  By  E.  A.  Brackett,  F. 
W.  Putnam,  and  E.  H.  Lathrop. 
Public  Documents,  No.  25.  Bos¬ 
ton:  State  Printers,  1886.  8°, 

83  P- 

1887 

260.  Fourteenth  Annual  Report  Curator 

Peabody  Museum  American 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


6i5 


Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  1881. 
( Reports  Peabody  Museum 
American  Archaeology  and  Eth¬ 
nology,  Cambridge,  ill,  1-38.) 

261.  Fifteenth  Annual  Report  Curator 

Peabody  Museum  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  1882. 
{Ibid.,  43-82.) 

262.  Notes  on  copper  objects  from 

North  and  South  America  con¬ 
tained  in  collections  of  the  Pea¬ 
body  Museum,  1882.  {Ibid., 
83-143.  44  ill.) 

263.  Sixteenth  Annual  Report  Curator 

Peabody  Museum  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  1883. 
{Ibid.,  149-206.) 

264.  Seventeenth  Annual  Report  Cura¬ 

tor  Peabody  Museum  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  1884. 
{Ibid.,  334-379.) 

265.  Eighteenth  Annual  Report  Cura¬ 

tor  Peabody  Museum  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  1885. 
{Ibid.,  385-432,  I  plan.) 

266.  The  Marriott  Mound,  No.  1,  and 

its  contents,  1885.  {Ibid.,  449- 
466,  18  ill.) 

267.  Nineteenth  Annual  Report  Cura¬ 

tor  Peabody  Museum  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  1886. 
{Ibid.,  467-512.) 

268.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary, 

Buffalo  Meeting,  American  Asso¬ 
ciation  Advancement  of  Science, 
1886.  {Proceedings  American 
Association  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  Salem,  xxxv,  376-379.) 

269.  Conventionalism  in  ancient  Ameri¬ 


can  art,  1886.  {Bulletin  Essex 
Institute,  Salem,  xvill,  155-167, 
7  Pi-) 

270.  Twentieth  Annual  Report  Cura¬ 

tor  Peabody  Museum  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  1886. 
{Reports  Peabody  Museum 
American  Archaeology  and  Eth¬ 
nology,  Cambridge,  in,  513-579.) 

271.  Annual  Report  of  the  Fish  and 

Game  Commissioners  of  Massa¬ 
chusetts  for  the  year  1886.  By 
E.  A.  Brackett,  F.  W.  Putnam, 
and  E.  H.  Lathrop.  Public 
Documents,  No.  25.  Boston: 
State  Printers,  1887.  8°,  91  p. 

272.  The  way  bone  fish-hooks  were 

made  in  the  Little  Miami  valley. 
{Reports  Peabody  Museum 
American  Archaeology  and  Eth¬ 
nology,  Cambridge,  ill,  581-586. 
II  ill.) 

273.  The  Serpent  Mound.  {Cincinnati 

Evening  Post,  June  4.  Reprint¬ 
ed,  in  abstract,  in  Ohio  Archaeo¬ 
logical  and  Historical  Quarterly, 
Columbus,  I,  187-190.) 

1888 

274.  Account  of  Archaeological  explora¬ 

tions  at  the  Liberty  Works,  Ohio, 
1884.  {Proceedings  Boston  So¬ 
ciety  of  Natural  History,  XXIII, 
215-218.) 

275.  Note  on  bronzes  from  Peru,  1885. 

{Ibid.,  240.) 

276.  Note  on  bone  fish-hooks,  1885. 

{Ibid.,  240.) 


6i6 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


277.  Note  on  a  black  flint  implement 

from  Ohio,  1885.  {Ibid.,  242.) 

278.  On  methods  of  manufacture  of 

stone  implements  by  primitive 
man,  and  on  jadite  objects  from 
New  Zealand  and  Central  Amer¬ 
ica,  1886.  {Ibid.,  324.) 

279.  Note  on  Belostoma  in  carp  ponds, 

1886.  {Ibid.,  336.) 

280.  Obituary  of  N.  E.  Atwood,  1886. 

{Ibid.,  337-338.) 

281.  On  a  collection  of  perforated  stones 

from  California,  1887.  {Ibid., 
356.) 

282.  Obituary  of  Miss  Cordelia  A. 

Studley,  1887.  {Ibid.,  419-420.) 

283.  Palaeolithic  man  in  eastern  and 

central  North  America.  A  dis¬ 
cussion  before  the  Boston  Society 
of  Natural  History,  1887.  {Ibid., 
421-424,  447-449.) 

284.  The  Serpent  Mound  of  Adams 

county,  Ohio,  and  its  preserva¬ 
tion  by  the  Peabody  Museum  of 
American  Archaeology  and  Eth¬ 
nology,  1887.  Abstract.  {Pro¬ 
ceedings  American  Association 
Advancement  of  Science,  Salem, 
xxxvi,  315-316.) 

285.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary, 

New  York  Meeting,  American 
Association  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  1887.  {Ibid.,  353-357-) 

286.  The  Serpent  Mound  saved.  An 

abstract  of  communication  to 
Cincinnati  Post,  1887.  {Ohio 
Archaeological  and  Historical 
Quarterly,  Columbus,  I,  187- 
190.) 


287.  Annual  Report  of  Commissioners 

of  Inland  Fisheries  and  Game  for 
the  year  1887.  By  E.  A.  Brack¬ 
ett,  F.  W.  Putnam,  and  E.  H. 
Lathrop.  Public  Documents,  No. 
25.  Boston:  State  Printers,  1888. 

8°,  66  p. 

288.  Notes  on  two  species  of  Wasps  ob¬ 

served  at  the  Serpent  Mound, 
Ohio.  {Proceedings  Boston  So¬ 
ciety  of  Natural  History,  xxm, 
465.) 

289.  Announcement  of  the  death  of  Pro¬ 

fessor  Asa  Gray.  {Ibid.,  486- 

487.) 

290.  Note  on  the  Serpent  Mound  in 

Adams  county,  Ohio.  {Ibid., 
518.) 

1889 

291.  In  Memory  of  Professors  Gray 

and  Baird,  1888.  {Bulletin  Es¬ 
sex  Institute,  Salem,  XX,  147- 
150.) 

292.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary, 

Cleveland  Meeting,  American 
Association  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  1888.  {Proceedings  Ameri¬ 
can  Association  Advancement  of 
Science ,  Salem,  xxxvn,  416-419.) 

293.  Symposium  on  the  aborigines  of 

the  District  of  Columbia  and  the 
lower  Potomac.  Discussion. 
{A  m  e  r  i  c  a  n  Anthropologist, 
Washington,  II,  266-268.) 

294.  Report  of  Commissioners  of  Inland 

Fisheries  and  Game  for  the  year 
1888.  By  E.  A.  Brackett,  F.  W. 
Putnam,  and  E.  H.  Lathrop. 
Public  Documents,  No.  2 5.  Bos- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


617 


ton:  State  Printers,  1889.  8°, 

81  p. 

295.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary, 

Toronto  Meeting,  American  As¬ 
sociation  Advancement  of  Science, 
1889.  ( Proceedings  American 

Association  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  Salem,  xxxviii,  481-485.) 

296.  The  Peabody  Museum  of  Ameri¬ 

can  Archaeology  and  Ethnology, 
Harvard  University,  1889.  ( Pro¬ 
ceedings  American  Antiquarian 
Society,  Worcester,  n.  s.,  VI,  180- 
190.)  [Separately  printed  for 
the  Peabody  Museum.] 

297.  Letter  to  His  Excellency  Oliver 

Ames,  Governor  of  Massachu¬ 
setts,  tendering  resignation  of 
membership  in  the  Inland  Fish¬ 
eries  Commission.  ( Report  of 
Commissioners  on  Inland  Fish¬ 
eries  and  Game  for  1889,  23-25. 
Boston:  State  Printers,  1890.) 
1890 

298.  Remarks  as  President,  Boston  So¬ 

ciety  Natural  History.  ( Proceed¬ 
ings  Boston  Society  Natural  His¬ 
tory,  XXIV,  37-38.) 

299.  Obituary  of  Samuel  Kneeland. 

{Ibid.,  38-40.) 

300.  Obituary  of  Charles  L.  Flint. 

{Ibid.,  99-100.) 

301.  Palaeolithic  man  in  eastern  and 

central  North  America.  A  dis¬ 
cussion  before  the  Boston  Society 
of  Natural  History.  {Ibid.,  157- 
165.  6  ill.) 

301a.  Remarks  on  early  man  in  Ameri¬ 
ca.  {Ibid.,  468.) 


302.  American  ethnology. — An  interest¬ 

ing  suggestion  for  the  Columbian 
Exposition  [including  a  plea  for 
a  scientific  museum  in  Chicago  as 
a  result  of  the  Exposition.] 
{Chicago  Tribune,  May  31.) 

303.  Prehistoric  remains  in  the  Ohio 

valley.  {Century  Magazine,  New 
York,  XXXIX,  698-703,  4  ill.) 

304.  The  Serpent  Mound  of  Ohio. 

{Ibid.,  871-888,  21  ill.) 

305.  Suggestions  relating  to  an  ethno¬ 

graphical  exhibition,  submitted  to 
the  Committee  on  Permanent  Or¬ 
ganization,  World’s  Columbian 
Commission.  {Appendix  to  Re¬ 
port  of  Committee  on  Permanent 
Organization,  submitted  to  the 
Meeting  of  the  Commission,  Sept. 
15,  1890,  p.  79-84.  Chicago.) 

1891 

306.  Twenty-first  Annual  Report  Cura¬ 

tor  Peabody  Museum  of  Ameri¬ 
can  Archaeology  and  Ethnology, 

1887.  {Reports  Peabody  Mu¬ 
seum  of  American  Archaeology 
and  Ethnology,  Cambridge,  IV,  I- 
19.) 

307.  Twenty-second  Annual  Report, 

Curator  Peabody  Museum  Amer¬ 
ican  Archaeology  and  Ethnology, 

1888.  {Ibid.,  21-60.) 

308.  Twenty-third  Annual  Report  Cu¬ 

rator  Peabody  Museum  Ameri¬ 
can  Archaeology  and  Ethnology, 

1889.  {Ibid.,  61-81.) 

309.  Twenty- fourth  Annual  Report  Cu¬ 

rator  Peabody  Museum  Ameri- 


6 1 8 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


can  Archaeology  and  Ethnology, 
1890.  {Ibid.,  83-110.) 

310.  Notice  of  a  singular  prehistoric 

structure  at  Foster’s,  Little  Mi¬ 
ami  valley,  Ohio,  1890.  Abstract. 
{Proceedings  American  Associa¬ 
tion  Advancement  of  Science, 
Salem,  xxxix,  389.) 

3 1 1 .  On  ancient  hearths  in  the  Little 

Miami  valley,  1890.  Abstract. 
{Ibid.,  389-390.) 

312.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary, 

Indianapolis  Meeting,  American 
Association  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  1890.  {Ibid.,  476-479.) 

313.  The  World’s  Fair — Plans  for  the 

Department  of  Ethnology, 
World’s  Columbian  Exposition 
in  Chicago.  {Boston  Post,  June 
15.) 

314.  A  singular  ancient  work  at  Fos¬ 

ter’s,  Little  Miami  valley,  Ohio. 
{Proceedings  American  Anti¬ 
quarian  Society,  Worcester,  n.  s., 

vii,  136-137-) 

1892 

315.  Ancient  earthworks  of  Ohio,  1887. 

( Tract  76,  Western  Reserve  His¬ 
torical  Society,  Cleveland,  in, 
179-184.)  [A  lecture  before 
the  Society,  reported  by  G. 
Frederick  Wright.] 

316.  Remarks  on  Peabody  Museum 

Honduras  Expedition,  1891. 
{Proceedings  American  Antiqua¬ 
rian  Society,  Worcester,  vii, 
294.) 


317.  Twenty-fifth  Annual  Report  Cura¬ 

tor  Peabody  Museum  of  Ameri¬ 
can  Archaeology  and  Ethnology, 
1891.  {Annual  Reports  of  the 
President  and  Treasurer  of  Har¬ 
vard  College j  1890-91,  Cam¬ 
bridge,  188-198.) 

318.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary, 

American  Association  Advance¬ 
ment  of  Science,  Washington 
Meeting,  1891.  {Proceedings 
American  Association  Advance¬ 
ment  of  Science,  Salem,  XL,  459- 

463-) 

319.  The  Peabody  Museum  Honduras 

Expedition,  1892.  {Ibid.,  xli, 
271.) 

320.  Note  on  Department  of  Ethnology, 

World’s  Columbian  Exposition 
in  Chicago.  {Proceedings  Amer¬ 
ican  Antiquarian  Society,  Wor¬ 
cester,  vii,  295.) 

321.  Department  M.  Ethnology,  Arch¬ 

aeology,  History,  Cartography, 
Latin-American  Bureau,  Collec¬ 
tive  and  Isolated  Exhibits.  (Plan 
and  Classification,  Department 
M.  By  George  R.  Davis,  Di¬ 
rector  General,  and  F.  W.  Put¬ 
nam,  Chief  of  the  Department, 
3-13.)  Chicago,  World’s  Co¬ 
lumbian  Exposition,  1892.  Pam. 
8°. 

1893 

322.  Memorial  letter  on  Professor  Lov¬ 

ering,  1892.  {Proceedings  Amer¬ 
ican  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sci¬ 
ences,  Boston,  xxvii,  347-349-) 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


619 


323.  Twenty-sixth  Annual  Report  Cu¬ 

rator  Peabody  Museum  Ameri¬ 
can  Archaeology  and  Ethnology, 

1892.  ( Annual  Reports  of  the 
President  and  Treasurer  of  Har¬ 
vard  College,  1891-92,  Cam¬ 
bridge,  198-210.) 

324.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary, 

Rochester  Meeting,  American 
Association  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  1892.  ( Proceedings  Amer¬ 

ican  Association  Advancement  of 
Science,  Salem,  XLI,  364-369.) 

325.  Plans  for  a  Museum  in  Chicago 

as  a  result  of  World’s  Columbian 
Exposition.  ( Chicago  Sunday 
Herald,  Sept.  3.) 

326.  Department  of  Ethnology,  World’s 

Columbian  Exposition  in  Chi¬ 
cago.  {Ziegler  s  W orld’s  Co¬ 
lumbian  Exposition,  Philadelphia 
and  St.  Louis,  415-435.  11  ill.) 

1894 

327.  Twenty-seventh  Annual  Report 

Curator  Peabody  Museum  Amer¬ 
ican  Archaeology  and  Ethnology, 

1893.  {Annual  Reports  of  the 
President  and  Treasurer  of  Har¬ 
vard  College,  1892-93,  Cam¬ 
bridge,  213-222.) 

328.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary, 

Madison  Meeting,  American  As¬ 
sociation  Advancement  of  Science, 
1893.  {Proceedings  American 
Association  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  Salem,  xlii,  369-373.) 

329.  Introduction  [as  Chief,  Depart¬ 

ment  of  Ethnology,  World’s  Co¬ 
lumbian  Exposition,  Chicago, 


1893]  to  N.  D.  Thompson’s  Por¬ 
trait  Types  of  the  Midway  Plais- 
ance.  St.  Louis:  N.  D.  Thomp¬ 
son  Publishing  Co. 

330.  Notes  on  the  Peabody  Museum. 

{Harvard  Graduate  Magazine, 
Cambridge,  ill,  239-240.) 

330a.  Copper  from  the  Ohio  mounds. 
(In  Certain  Sand  Mounds  of  the 
St.  John’s  River,  Florida,  by 
Clarence  B.  Moore.  {Journal 
Academy  Natural  Sciences,  Phil¬ 
adelphia,  X,  220.) 

1895 

331.  Report  of  the  Curator  of  Anthro¬ 

pology,  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  1894.  Ex¬ 
tracts.  {Annual  Report  of  the 
President  of  the  American  Mu¬ 
seum  of  Natural  History,  New 
York,  8-10,  51-52.) 

332.  Twenty-eighth  Annual  Report  Cu¬ 

rator  Peabody  Museum  Ameri¬ 
can  Archaeology  and  Ethnology, 

1894.  {Annual  Reports  of  the 
President  and  Treasurer  of  Har¬ 
vard  College,  1893-94.  Cam¬ 
bridge,  218-226.) 

333.  Report  Permanent  Secretary, 

Brooklyn  Meeting,  American  As¬ 
sociation  Advancement  of  Science, 
1894.  {Proceedings  American 
Association  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  Salem,  xliii,  466-473.) 

334.  The  history,  aims  and  importance 

of  the  American  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science. 
{Science,  Cambridge,  n.  s.,  II, 
171-174.) 


620 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


335.  The  Peabody  Centennial.  ( Har¬ 

vard  Daily  News,  Cambridge, 
Feb.  18.) 

336.  The  Mound  Builders.  Symbolic 

Carvings  from  the  Mounds  of 
Ohio.  Abstract.  By  F.  W.  Put¬ 
nam  and  C.  C.  Willoughby. 
( Boston  Commonwealth,  XXX, 
2-3.)  [See  No.  343.] 

337.  Notes  on  the  Peabody  Museum. 

( Harvard  Graduate  Magazine, 
Cambridge,  in,  541-542.) 

338.  Review  of  Clarence  B.  Moore’s 

Certain  Sand  Mounds  of  the  St. 
Johns  River,  Florida.  {Ibid., 

587-589.) 

339.  The  antiquity  of  the  Mound 

Builders.  {Boston  Evening  Tran¬ 
script,  Oct.  5.) 

339a.  Incised  human  figure  on  pottery 
fragment.  (In  Certain  Sand 
Mounds  of  Ocklawaha  River, 
Florida,  by  Clarence  B.  Moore. 
{Journal  Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences,  Philadelphia,  x,  523- 
524-) 

1896 

340.  Report  of  the  Curator  of  Anthro¬ 

pology,  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  1895.  Extracts. 
{Annual  Report  of  the  President 
of  the  American  Museum  of  Nat¬ 
ural  History,  New  York,  10-12, 
69-70.) 

341.  Twenty-ninth  Annual  Report  Cu¬ 

rator  Peabody  Museum  Ameri¬ 
can  Archaeology  and  Ethnology, 
1895.  {Annual  Reports  of  the 
President  and  Treasurer  of  Har¬ 


vard  College,  1894-95,  Cam¬ 
bridge,  236-244.) 

342.  Report  Permanent  Secretary, 

Springfield  Meeting,  American 
Association  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  1895.  {Proceedings  Amer¬ 
ican  Association  Advancement  of 
Science,  Salem,  xliv,  397-403.) 

343.  Symbolism  in  the  art  of  Ancient 

America,  by  F.  W.  Putnam  and 
C.  C.  Willoughby,  1895.  Ab¬ 
stract.  {Ibid.,  302-322,  35  ill.) 

344.  Henry  Wheatland — a  memorial 

letter.  {Proceedings  American 
Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences, 
Boston,  xxxr,  363-367.) 

345.  The  scientists  of  America — Buffalo 

Meeting  of  the  American  Asso¬ 
ciation  Advancement  of  Science. 
{Buffalo  Illustrated  Express, 
July  19.) 

346.  Notes  on  the  Peabody  Museum. 

{Harvard  Graduate  Magazine, 
Cambridge,  iv,  448-450.) 

347.  Notes  on  the  Peabody  Museum. 

{Ibid.,  v,  241-242.) 

348.  Review  of  Clarence  B.  Moore’s 

Certain  Sand  Mounds  of  Florida. 
{Science,  New  York,  n.  s.,  ill, 
205-207.) 

348a.  The  prehistoric  dog  of  America. 
(In  Additional  Mounds  of  Duval 
and  Clay  Counties,  Florida,  by 
Clarence  B.  Moore.  Journal 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences, 
Philadelphia,  26-27.) 

1897 

349.  Report  of  Curator  of  Anthropol¬ 

ogy,  American  Museum  of  Nat- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


621 


ural  History,  1896.  Extracts. 
( Annual  Report  of  the  President 
of  the  American  Museum  of  Nat¬ 
ural  History ,  New  York,  19-25.) 

350.  Thirtieth  Annual  Report  Curator 

Peabody  Museum  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  1896. 
( Annual  Reports  of  the  President 
and  Treasurer  of  Harvard  Col¬ 
lege,  1895-96,  Cambridge,  239- 
249.) 

351.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary, 

Buffalo  Meeting,  American  Asso¬ 
ciation  Advancement  of  Science, 

1896.  ( Proceedings  American 

Association  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  Salem,  XLV,  259-265.) 

352.  Notes  on  the  Peabody  Museum  and 

the  Division  of  American  Archae¬ 
ology  and  Ethnology  in  Harvard 
University.  ( Harvard  Graduate 
Magazine,  Cambridge,  VI,  79- 

81.) 

1898 

353.  Report  of  Curator  of  Anthropol¬ 

ogy,  American  Museum  of  Nat¬ 
ural  History,  1897.  Extracts. 
( Annual  Report  of  the  President 
of  the  American  Museum  of  Nat¬ 
ural  History,  New  York,  14-15, 
102.) 

354.  Thirty-first  Annual  Report  Cura¬ 

tor  Peabody  Museum  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  1897. 
( Annual  Reports  of  the  President 
and  Treasurer  of  Harvard  Col¬ 
lege,  1896-97,  Cambridge,  242- 
251.) 


355.  Early  man  of  the  Delaware  valley, 

1897.  ( Proceedings  American 
Association  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  Salem,  xlvi,  344-348.) 

356.  Discussion  of  Trenton  Deposits  at 

the  Detroit  Meeting,  American 
Association  Advancement  of  Sci¬ 
ence,  1897.  (Ibid.,  384.  387, 
388-389.) 

357.  Report  of  Permanent  Secretary, 

Detroit  Meeting,  American  Asso¬ 
ciation  Advancement  of  Science, 

1897-  (Ibid.,  479-485.) 

358.  Notes  on  the  Peabody  Museum. 

( Harvard  Graduate  Magazine, 
Cambridge,  vi,  541-543.) 

358a.  Tribute  to  the  Memory  of  Henry 
Wheatland.  Abstract.  ( Bulletin 
Essex  Institute,  Salem,  xxx,  48- 
49-) 

359.  Guide  to  the  Peabody  Museum  of 

Harvard  University,  with  state¬ 
ment  relating  to  instruction  in 
Anthropology.  [Privately  print¬ 
ed,  complimentary  to  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Association  for  the  Advance¬ 
ment  of  Science  at  the  Fiftieth 
Anniversary  Meeting  held  in 
Boston,  August,  1888.]  Salem, 

1898.  8°,  29  p. 

1899 

360.  Thirty-second  Annual  Report  Cu¬ 

rator  Peabody  Museum  Ameri¬ 
can  Archaeology  and  Ethnology, 
1898.  (Annual  Reports  of  the 
President  and  Treasurer  of  Har¬ 
vard  College,  1897-98,  Cam¬ 
bridge,  266-275.) 


622 


PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


361.  Remarks  on  taking  the  chair  as 

President  of  the  American  Asso¬ 
ciation  Advancement  of  Science, 
Boston  Meeting,  1898.  Abstract. 
(Proceedings  American  Associa¬ 
tion  Advancement  of  Science , 
Salem,  xlvii,  617.) 

362.  Reply  to  addresses  of  welcome,  etc., 

Boston  Meeting,  American  As¬ 
sociation  Advancement  of  Science, 

1898.  (Ibid.,  623-624.) 

363.  A  problem  in  anthropology.  Ad¬ 

dress  of  Retiring  President  of  the 
American  Association  Advance¬ 
ment  of  Science,  Columbus 
Meeting,  1899.  (Ibid.,  Easton, 
Pa.,  xlviii,  1-1 7.)  [Printed 
also  in  Science,  New  York.  n.  s., 
X,  225-236,  and  in  Annual  Re¬ 
port  of  the  Smithsonian  Institu¬ 
tion  for  1899,  Washington,  1901, 
473-486.] 

364.  Obituary  notice  of  Dr.  D.  G. 

Brinton,  1898.  (Proceedings 
American  Association  Advance¬ 
ment  of  Science,  Easton,  Pa., 
XLVIII,  opp.  p.  I.) 

365.  Remarks  at  Twentieth  Anniversary 

Meeting  of  the  Military  Service 
Institution  of  the  United  States. 
(Journal  of  the  Military  Service 
Institution  of  the  United  States, 
New  York,  xxiv,  Suppl.,  13-14.) 

366.  Private  view  of  the  Mexican  Hall, 

American  Museum  of  Natural 
History.  A  leaflet.  Published 
by  the  Museum.  New  York, 

1899.  8°,  4  p.  [Reprinted  in 


Science,  New  York,  n.  s.,  xi, 

1900.] 

367.  Report  of  the  Curator  of  Anthro¬ 

pology,  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  1898.  Extracts. 
(Annual  Report  of  the  President 
of  the  American  Museum  of  Nat¬ 
ural  History,  New  York,  11,  14- 
17.  54-58.) 

368.  Notes  on  the  Peabody  Museum. 

(Harvard  Graduate  Magazine, 
Cambridge,  vil,  436-437.) 

369.  Notes  on  the  Peabody  Museum. 

(Ibid.,  VIII,  75-76,  235.) 

369a.  Copper  band  from  mound  in  Ala¬ 
bama.  (In  Certain  Aboriginal 
Remains  of  the  Alabama  River, 
by  Clarence  B.  Moore.  Journal 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences, 
Philadalphia,  xi,  328.) 

1900 

370.  Thirty-third  Annual  Report  Cura¬ 

tor  Peabody  Museum  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  1899. 
(Annual  Reports  of  the  President 
and  Treasurer  of  Harvard  Col¬ 
lege,  1898-99,  Cambridge,  271- 

279.) 

371.  Report  of  the  Curator  of  Anthro¬ 

pology,  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  1899.  Extracts. 
(Annual  Report  of  the  President 
of  the  American  Museum  of  Nat¬ 
ural  History,  New  York,  13-18, 
20-22,  65-69.) 

371a.  Address  at  the  memorial  meeting 
in  honor  of  D.  G.  Brinton  (as 
representative  of  the  Division  of 
Anthropology,  Harvard  Univer- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


623 


sity,  and  the  American  Associa¬ 
tion  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science).  ( Report  of  the  Me¬ 
morial  Meeting  held  under  the 
Auspices  of  the  American  Phil¬ 
osophical  Society,  by  Twenty-six 
Learned  Societies,  in  Honor  of 
Daniel  Garrison  Brinton,  M.  D 
Philadelphia,  33-34.) 

1901 

372.  Thirty- fourth  Annual  Report  Cu¬ 

rator  Peabody  Museum  Ameri¬ 
can  Archaeology  and  Ethnology, 
1900.  ( Annual  Reports  of  the 

President  and  Treasurer  of  Har¬ 
vard  College,  1899-1900,  Cam¬ 
bridge,  292-302.) 

373.  Report  of  the  Curator  of  Anthro¬ 

pology,  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  1900.  Extracts. 
( Annual  Report  of  the  President 
of  the  American  Museum  of  Nat¬ 
ural  History,  New  York,  13-19, 
77-8l.) 

373a.  Skeleton  in  armor.  ( American 
Anthropologist,  Lancaster,  Pa., 
n.  s.,  ill,  388-389.) 

1902 

374.  Thirty-fifth  Annual  Report  Cura¬ 

tor  Peabody  Museum  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  1901. 
{Annual  Reports  of  the  President 
and  Treasurer  of  Harvard  Col¬ 
lege,  1900-1901,  Cambridge,  267- 
274.) 

375.  Report  of  the  Curator  of  Anthro¬ 

pology,  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  1901.  Extracts. 


( Annual  Report  of  the  President 
of  the  American  Museum  of  Nat¬ 
ural  History,  New  York,  18-25, 
73-770 

376.  Archaeological  and  ethnological  re¬ 

search  in  the  United  States. 
{Proceedings  of  the  American 
Antiquarian  Society,  Worcester, 
xiv,  461-470.) 

377.  The  Mexican  codices.  {American 

Museum  Journal,  New  York,  II, 

34-36.) 

1903 

378.  Thirty-sixth  Annual  Report  Cura¬ 

tor  Peabody  Museum  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  1902. 
{Annual  Reports  of  the  President 
and  Treasurer  of  Harvard  Col¬ 
lege,  1901-1902,  Cambridge,  292- 
300.) 

379.  Scientific  survey  of  the  Philippine 

islands.  Report  of  committee  ap¬ 
pointed  by  the  National  Acad¬ 
emy,  in  pursuance  of  a  request 
from  the  President  of  the  United 
States.  By  William  H.  Brewer, 
George  F.  Becker,  C.  Hart  Mer- 
riam,  F.  W.  Putnam,  and  R.  S. 
Woodward.  Washington,  D.  C., 
National  Academy  of  Science, 
February,  1903.  8°,  19  p. 

380.  Tribute  to  the  memory  of  Frank 

Russell.  {Iowa  Alumnus,  Iowa 
City,  Iowa,  December  15.) 

381.  Sheet  copper  from  the  Mounds — 

Discussion.  {American  Anthro¬ 
pologist,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  n.  s.,  v, 
49.) 


624  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


382.  Report  of  the  Curator  of  Anthro¬ 

pology,  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  1902.  Extracts. 
( Annual  Report  of  the  President 
of  the  American  Museum  of  Nat¬ 
ural  History,  New  York,  17-22, 
55-58.) 

1904 

383.  Thirty-seventh  Report  Curator 

Peabody  Museum  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  1903. 
( Annual  Reports  of  the  President 
and  Treasurer  of  Harvard  Col¬ 
lege,  1902-03,  Cambridge,  278- 
287.) 

384.  Letter  submitted  to  the  Subcom¬ 

mittee  of  the  Committee  on  Pub¬ 
lic  Lands  of  the  United  States 
Senate.  By  Benj.  I.  Wheeler  and 
F.  W.  Putnam  [for  the  Univer¬ 
sity  of  California].  Senate  Doc¬ 
ument,  No.  314,  Preservation  of 
Historic  and  Prehistoric  Ruins, 
etc.  Washington,  D.  C.,  up. 

385.  Report  of  Advisory  Curator  of 

Archaeology,  American  Museum 
of  Natural  History,  1903.  Ex¬ 
tracts.  ( Annual  Report  of  the 
President  of  the  American  Mu¬ 
seum  of  Natural  History,  New 
York,  18-20,  52-54-) 

1905 

386.  Thirty-eighth  Annual  Report  Cu¬ 

rator  Peabody  Museum  Ameri¬ 
can  Archaeology  and  Ethnology, 
1904.  ( Annual  Reports  of  Har¬ 

vard  College,  1903-04,  Cam¬ 
bridge,  300-306. 


387.  Remarks  as  Vice  President,  Con¬ 

gress  of  Americanists,  New  York, 
1902.  ( Proceedings  13th  Inter¬ 

national  Congress  of  American¬ 
ists,  Easton,  Pa.,  xxv,  xxx,  xxxii, 
xxxiv,  xxxvi,  xxxix-xliv,xlviii,  1, 
lix,  lxv.) 

388.  Address  of  President  of  American 

Anthropological  Association,  San 
Francisco  Meeting,  1905.  Ab¬ 
stract.  ( American  Anthropolo¬ 
gist,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  n.  s.,  vil, 
733-735-) 

389.  Notes  on  the  Division  of  Anthro¬ 

pology  and  the  Peabody  Museum. 
( Harvard  Graduate  Magazine, 
Cambridge,  xiv,  286-287.) 

389a.  Remarks  as  member  of  the  Com¬ 
mittee  on  Preservation  of  Pre¬ 
historic  Ruins  on  the  Public 
Lands.  ( Hearing  before  the 
Committee  on  the  Public  Lands, 
9,  Washington,  Government 
Printing  Office.)  Pam.  8°. 
389b.  Bird  design  on  water  bottle  from 
Moundville,  Florida.  (In  Cer¬ 
tain  Aboriginal  Remains,  Black 
Warrior  River,  by  Clarence  B. 
Moore.  Journal  Academy  Nat¬ 
ural  Sciences,  Philadelphia,  xm, 
138.) 

1906 

390.  Thirty-ninth  Annual  Report  Cura¬ 

tor  Peabody  Museum  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  1905. 
( Annual  Reports  of  the  President 
and  Treasurer  of  Harvard  Col¬ 
lege,  1904-05,  Cambridge,  301- 
306.) 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


625 


391.  Anthropology  at  Harvard  Univer¬ 

sity.  [In  Recent  Progress  in 
American  Anthropology,  edited 
by  F.  W.  Hodge.]  ( American 
Anthropologist ,  Lancaster,  Pa., 
n.  s.,  vm,  458-463.) 

392.  Notes  on  the  Division  of  Anthro¬ 

pology  and  the  Peabody  Museum, 
Harvard  University.  ( Harvard 
Graduate  Magazine ,  Cambridge, 
xv,  284,  292-293.) 

393.  Evidence  of  the  work  of  man  on 

objects  from  the  Quaternary  caves 
of  California.  ( American  An¬ 
thropologist,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  n.  s., 
viii,  229-235,  3  pi.)  [Printed 
separately,  in  connection  with  J. 
C.  Merriam’s  Recent  Cave  Ex¬ 
plorations  in  California,  and  pre¬ 
sented  to  the  Fifteenth  Interna¬ 
tional  Congress  of  Americanists 
at  Quebec.] 

1907 

394.  Fortieth  Annual  Report  Curator 

Peabody  Museum  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  1906. 
( Annual  Reports  of  the  President 
and  Treasurer  of  Harvard  Col¬ 
lege,  1905-06,  Cambridge,  292- 
300.) 

395.  Memorial  to  Louis  Agassiz.  [Let¬ 

ter  read  on  the  occasion  of  unveil¬ 
ing  the  marble  busts  of  ten  Pio¬ 
neers  of  American  Science,  in  the 
American  Museum  of  Natural 
History,  Dec.  29,  1906.]  Pio¬ 
neers  of  American  Science,  New 
York,  American  Museum  of  Nat¬ 
ural  History,  April,  1907. 


396.  Early  American  pottery.  An  in¬ 

formal  talk.  ( Proceedings  of  the 
Numismatic  and  Antiquarian  So¬ 
ciety  of  Philadelphia  for  1905, 
30-34- ) 

397.  Letter  read  at  meeting  held  in 

memory  of  William  Wells  New¬ 
ell,  March  10,  1907.  ( Journal 
of  American  Folk-Lore,  Boston 
and  New  York,  xx,  65-66.) 

398.  Letter  of  appreciation.  ( Boas  An¬ 

niversary  Volume,  New  York, 
p.  ix-xi.) 

399.  Notes  on  the  Peabody  Museum. 

( Harvard  Graduate  Magazine, 
Cambridge,  xv,  437-438.) 

399a.  Meteoric  iron  used  by  phehistoric 
peoples.  (In  Crystal  River  Re¬ 
visited,  by  Clarence  B.  Moore. 
Journal  Academy  Natural  Sci¬ 
ences,  Philadelphia,  xm,  422.) 

1908 

400.  Forty-first  Annual  Report  Curator 

Peabody  Museum  of  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  1907. 
( Annual  Reports  of  the  President 
and  Treasurer  of  Harvard  Col¬ 
lege,  1906-07,  Cambridge,  292- 
303.) 

401.  Anthropological  research.  A  peti¬ 

tion  to  the  Carnegie  Institution 
of  Washington  relative  to  the 
proposed  establishment  of  a  De¬ 
partment  of  Anthropological  Sci¬ 
ence.  By  F.  W.  Putnam,  Roland 
B.  Dixon,  W.  H.  Holmes,  A.  L. 
Kroeber,  and  Franz  Boas  [as  rep¬ 
resentatives  of  the  principal  An¬ 
thropological  bodies  of  the  United 


626  PUTNAM  ANNIVERSARY  VOLUME 


States].  Washington,  D.  C., 
Carnegie  Institution  of  Washing¬ 
ton.  8°,  13  p. 

402.  Report  on  the  Department  of  An¬ 

thropology  and  the  Anthropolo¬ 
gical  Museum,  University  of  Cal¬ 
ifornia.  ( Biennial  Report  of  the 
President  of  the  University  of 
California ,  1906-08,  Berkeley, 

89-109,) 

1909 

403.  Note  on  the  “Calaveras  Skull,” 

1907.  ( University  of  California 

Publications  in  Archaeology  and 
Ethnology,  Berkeley,  vn,  128- 
129.) 

404.  Forty-second  Annual  Report  Cura¬ 

tor  Peabody  Museum  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  1908. 
( Annual  Reports  of  the  President 
and  Treasurer  of  Harvard  Col¬ 
lege, ,  1907-08. 

(Total,  420  titles.) 

EDITORIAL  LABORS 

Publications  of  the  Essex  Institute,  Sa¬ 
lem,  Mass. : 

Proceedings,  vols.  IV-VI,  1 864-187 1 . 
Bulletins,  vols.  I-IV,  1870-1875. 
Naturalists1  Directory,  part  I,  1865. 
12°. 

Naturalists 1  Directory,  part  II,  1866. 

8°. 

American  Naturalist  (with  others), 
vol.  I,  1868. 

Publications  of  the  Peabody  Academy  of 
Science,  Salem,  Mass. : 


American  Naturalist  (with  others), 
vols.  ii-ix,  1869-1875. 

Annual  Reports,  vols.  I-V,  1869- 

1873. 

Memoirs,  vols.  I-IV,  1869-1875. 
Publications  of  the  American  Association 
for  the  Advancement  of  Science: 
Annual  Proceedings,  vols.  XXII-XLVI, 
1874-1898. 

Annual  Pamphlets  and  Programmes 
of  the  Meetings,  1873-1 897* 
United  States  Government  Publication: 
Report  upon  United  States  Geo¬ 
graphical  Surveys  West  of  the  One 
Hundredth  Meridian,  in  charge 
of  First  Lieut.  Geo.  M.  Wheel¬ 
er,  Corps  of  Engineers,  U.  S. 
Army.  Vol.  vii.  —  Archaeology. 
497  PP->  20  pi.  and  frontispiece, 
135  fig.  Washington:  Govern¬ 
ment  Printing  Office,  1879.  4to, 
[See  numbers  184-193  in  this 
Bibliography.] 

Publications  of  the  Peabody  Museum  of 
American  Archaeology  and  Ethnology, 
Harvard  University,  Cambridge: 
Papers,  vols.  i-ll,  1888-1901.  8°. 

Vol.  in,  nos.  1-4  (to  be  contin¬ 
ued),  1904. 

Vol.  IV,  nos.  1-2  (to  be  contin¬ 
ued),  1904. 

Memoirs,  vols.  I-Ii,  1896-1903.  40. 
Vol.  in,  no.  1  (to  be  continued), 
1904- 

Vol.  iv,  nos.  1-2  (no.  3  in  press), 
1908- 

Special  Publication :  Codex  Nuttall, 
1902. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


627 


American  Museum  of  Natural  History 
Publication : 

Memoirs,  Vol.  vi  (whole  series), 
Vol.  v  (Anthropology)  :  The 
Night  Chant,  a  Navaho  Cere¬ 
mony.  By  Washington  Mat¬ 
thews.  New  York,  1902.  40. 

Publications  of  the  Department  of  An¬ 
thropology,  University  of  California, 
Berkeley : 


American  Archaeology  and  Ethno¬ 
logy,  vols.  i-vill,  1903-1908.  8°. 
Vol.  ix  (in  press). 

Special  Publications:  The  Book 
of  the  Life  of  the  Ancient  Mex¬ 
icans,  by  Zelia  Nuttall.  Part 
1,  1903.  Part  11  (in  press). 
The  Department  of  Anthropolo¬ 
gy :  Its  History  and  Plan,  1905. 
Guide  to  Collections  in  Depart¬ 
ment  of  Anthropology,  1906. 


Peabody  Museum,  Harvard  University 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts 


GETTY  RESEARCH  INSTITUTE 


3  3125  01099  9254 


